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ARTILLERY DRILL 




NAVY BLUE 


A STORY OF CADET LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES 
NAVAL ACADEMY AT ANNAPOLIS 


BY ^ 

WILLIS BOYD ALLEN 

AUTHOR OF “ THE LION CITY. OF AFRICA,” “ THE PINE CONE STORIES,’ 

‘ ‘around the yule log,” etc., etc. 


NEW YORK 

Copyright, by 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

31 West Twenty-third Street 
i8q8 


2nd COPY, 
1898 . 





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TO THE HONORABLE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 


JOHN DAVIS LONG 

MY FATHER’S FRIEND AND MINE 
THIS STORY OF CADET LIFE IS INSCRIBED 

















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PREFACE. 


At no time in our history has the attention of the 
people of the United States been more earnestly con- 
centrated upon our navy than at the present crisis, 
when our country is engaged in deadly warfare with a 
foreign nation. It is nevertheless true that in watching 
the construction of new and formidable warships and 
the movements of our fleets at their various stations, 
we too often lose sight of the training-school, without 
which our vessels were but expensive toys of the 
nation. Through books and’ frequent reference, as 
well as from its situation on one of the great routes of 
travel in the North, its sister institution at West Point 
is familiar to every one; but the details of academy life 
at Annapolis are known to comparatively few, and its 
splendid work in training and sending forth officers for 
the navy is but slightly appreciated by the people at 
large. 

It is hoped that the present volume will not only 
supply, in part, such information as is desirable for 
a thorough understanding of the work accomplished 
by the Naval Academy, but will inspire every manly 
and healthy boy reader with a patriotic desire to serve 
his country; not by wearing the “ navy blue ” on the 


VI 


PREFACE. 


deck of a battleship, it may be, but, whatever his cir- 
cumstances, by living such a clean, honorable, upright 
life as befits an American. 

The author cannot lay down his pen without ex- 
pressing his hearty gratitude for the assistance and 
encouragement he has received in his work: to the 
authorities at Washington for facilities offered in the 
collection of material; to officers of the navy attached 
to the Naval Academy, and to the cadets at that insti- 
tution and afloat, who have given him the benefits 
of their experience; and, in particular, to Lieut. W. H. 
H. Southerland, whose patient and kindly aid in the 
revision of his manuscript has been invaluable. 

Willis Boyd Allen. 

Boston, May , 1898. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER page 

I. The Hundred-Yard Run i 

II. At the Capital g 

III. On Board a Battleship i8 

IV. Last Days at School 26 

V. Dave Rexdale 35 

VI. A Wreck on Dry Land 42 

VII. Farm Life and a Yarn 52 

VIII. “Maryland, My Maryland” .... 65 

IX. The Entrance Examination .... 74 

X. Cadets at Last 84 

XI. Rumors of War 93 

XII. Running a Plebe 102 

XIII. An Academy Hop 112 

XIV. The Scrap in No. 32 123 

XV. Under a Cloud 132 

XVI. The Cloud Breaks 142 

XVII. Hard Work 154 

XVIII. One to Nothing 161 

XIX. The End of the Term 170 

XX. June Week 177 

XXI. The June Ball ‘ 186 

XXII. Outward Bound 195 


CONTENTS. 


viii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIII. The “Wooded Island” 203 

XXIV. The Glorious Fourth in Funchal . . .211 

XXV. The Cruise of the “Bancroft” . . . 227 

XXVI. Swept Out to Sea 235 

XXVII. Cast Away on the Desertas .... 246 

XXVIII. The Rescue 257 

XXIX. Home Again 266 

XXX. Third-Class Year 276 

XXXI. A Queer Christmas Party .... 286 

XXXII. Bad News 296 

XXXIII. Friends in Need. . . • . . . . 306 

XXXIV. The White Squadron 316 

XXXV. Scattering the Clouds 327 

XXXVI. Navy Blue 33c 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Artillery Drill 


. Frontispiece . 

The Tally-Ho Coach 

• • • 

Facing page 

40 

The “Monongahela ” 


( ( it 

60 

The Old “Santee” . 

• • • 

t( it 

73 

An Academy Hop 

• • • 

t( t ( 

118 

Cadet Quarters . 

• • • 

it it 

156 

Baseball Nine 

• • • 

tt it 

168 

The “ Bancroft ” ... 

• • • 

it <t 

196 

Champion Flag Company . 

• • • 

it ii 

298 

The First Division 

• • • 

ti Cl 

314 



r 

.ft 


NAVY BLUE. 


CHAPTER 1. 

THE HUNDRED-YARD RUN. 

“ Line up, fellows; line up! We’ve got ’em on the 
run!” 

The captain of the High School eleven was excited; 
the captain of the Latin School eleven was excited; 
so were their twenty battered, bandaged, mud-stained 
followers, and the two or three thousand spectators 
who stood up and cheered wildly, waving handker- 
chiefs, hats, and flags. 

Never had the town known such a game. The two 
schools of St. Botolph were rivals in athletics, as well 
as in matters of intellectual prowess. Hitherto they 
had been pretty evenly matched on the football “ grid- 
iron,” but this year the High School team averaged 
six or seven pounds heavier than their opponents, 
and it was conceded by all that the Latin had no 
chance to win, if, indeed, they were able to score at 


2 


NAVY BLUE. 


all against the young giants opposing them. Thus 
far in the season — which now was nearing its close — 
the goal of the doughty High School eleven had not 
been crossed; and the second half of the present game 
being well under way, with the score standing 36 to o 
in their favor, it looked as if their record was not to 
be broken. They had boasted that they would run 
up forty points to nothing; and here they were, with 
only four points to gain, and the enemy’s goal-posts 
but five yards distant. 

The Latin School boys were pretty nearly worn out, 
and were discouraged; still, they were plucky fellows, 
and bravely scrambled out of the five-yard scrimmage 
to their positions. 

'‘Now, boys, hold ’em! They can't do it again!” 
shouted Captain Norman Holmes to his panting, 
dripping band of warriors. 

“ Twenty-seven, thirteen, forty-sev ” 

“Look out, Fred!” cried Holmes to his right 
tackle, springing to the threatened point of attack. 

Before the words had fairly left his mouth the ball 
was snapped back by the big High School centre, and 
a solid battering-ram of half a dozen players hurled 
itself against the wiry tackle. Holmes had interpreted 
the signal rightly, and was just in time to back up the 
defence. 

Down went half a dozen men. The runner with 
the ball found, instead of an opening through which 


THE HUNDRED -YARD RUN 


3 


he could saunter, a mound of desperate, struggling 
figures blocking his way. He tried to clear the ob- 
struction, but was tackled almost in mid-air. As he 
fell, the ball was knocked from his grasp and bounded 
away over the ground. Instantly two men disen- 
gaged themselves from the human mound, and rushed 
after it. They were Norman Holmes, and Pete Rol- 
lins, the High School captain. 

Norman was just ahead of the other, and picking 
up the ball on a low bound, started down the field 
with Rollins close at his heels and the whole body of 
players trailing after. 

The white twenty-yard line flew back under his feet 

— twenty-five — thirty 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Latin — Latin — Latin — 
HOLMES!” screamed the sympathizers from the 
seats. Norman felt as if he were running in a dream. 
With his head thrown back, shoulders squared, and 
body inclined sharply forward, he fairly flew over the 
ground. The roar of the crowd was in his ears; he 
seemed -to be in a tremendous treadmill, the floor of 
which was gliding away beneath him. 

Fifty — fifty-five — and now he was fairly in the 
hostile camp. Bar after bar of white plaster was left 
behind. He heard the steps of his enemy, and his 
fierce breathing; threatening words, too, gasped out 
by his pursuer, who was known to be an ugly cus- 
tomer in private life. 


4 


J^TAFV BLUE. 


Thirty-five — thirty — twenty — can he hold out for 
sixty feet more? 

Look! The full-back of the High School team has 
suddenly risen, as it were, out of the ground, and 
bears swiftly, triumphantly down on the runner. 
Groans and shouts of warning from the Latin benches, 
shrieks of excitement from the pretty Latin sisters, as 
a fleet-footed interferer shoots through the air and 
brings down the luckless full-back with a crash. They 
roll over and over in the mud, but nobody looks at 
them. 

Norman is making his last effort. He knows that 
he is about to be tackled. Eight yards to gain, and 
the English captain is upon him, with a rush like a 
tiger. Over they go, just on the white five-yard line. 

Renewed groans and cries of disappointment from 
the crimson-flag bearers; shrieks of joy from the blue. 
But see, Norman has half-struggled to his feet, fallen, 
risen a little and fallen again, carrying his burly an- 
tagonist with him, and rolling clean over at the last 
plunge. He lunges out at full length, and three 
seconds before a dozen players pile themselves upon 
him has placed the ball on the ground — four inches 
over the goal-line. 

^^Down!” The referee’s whistle blows, but no- 
body in the spectators’ seats hears it. The wild din 
of shouts, screams, outcries of triumph drowns it; 
the frantic waving of crimson flags almost hides the 


THE HUNDRED. YARD RUN. 


5 


scene, as breathlessly, ruefully, sullenly the High 
School players withdraw from the struggling heap 
and gain their feet, to line up by their goal-posts. 
For the words are ringing in their ears — “ Touch-down 
for Latin! ” 

Norman did not hear this for the very good reason 
that he was lying on the ground, unconscious, when 
it was spoken. A little rubbing and sponging brought 
him to his senses, however, and he was on his feet 
in time to save his place in the game. The goal was 
kicked promptly and successfully, in spite of the angry 
protest of big Rollins, who stoutly averred that the 
ball had been “ down ” inside the line and not out. 
As a fact, he himself had, by a sudden exertion of all 
his strength, pulled Holmes backward bodily just a 
fraction of a second after the referee^s whistle had 
blown. There were plenty of witnesses to the fact, 
including the referee himself, who was a brisk young 
man from Harvard’s substitute eleven, and who knew 
every move in the game, fair and unfair. 

There were only seven minutes more to play; but 
the heavier eleven succeeded, after a heroic resistance 
from the Latin boys, in rushing the ball yard by yard 
to their opponents’ line and over it, at the extreme 
corner of the grounds. The kick-out for a try for 
goal was skilfully blocked, and time was almost im- 
mediately called, leaving the final score 40 to 6 in 
favor of High. 


6 


NAVY BLUE, 


That evening Norman fought his battles over again, 
with his widowed mother, and Hallie, his sister, two 
years younger than himself, for a trembling, pitying, 
admiring audience. 

“ It was a great game,’^ he concluded with a sigh, 
nursing his lame knee. “ And there won’t be any 
more playing till next fall.” 

‘‘ I’m thankful for that,” exclaimed poor little Mrs. 
Holmes, with feeling. “ Whenever you go into one 
of thoSfe games I sit here worrying every moment 
until it’s over.” 

'' So do I, Norm,” said Hallie, reaching over and 
giving her brother’s sleeve a fond little stroke. '' But 
I like for your side to beat, all the same. And I do 
think that great Rollins boy is horrid! ” 

“ Oh, he means well, but he gets excited and loses 
his head,” laughed Norman. 

“ Well,” added his mother, perhaps you won’t 
play any more. If you go to college next year ” 

Norman’s face clouded a little. “ I can’t bear to 
think of it, mother,” he said. “ It isn’t football, for 
there’s plenty of that and all sorts of athletics at 
Harvard. It’s the deciding to go into some sort of a 
humdrum, quiet profession, where I can’t get enough 
air to breathe.” 

He stretched his arms and drew in a long breath, as 
if the very thought smothered him. 

“ You know how I like outdoor life, mother,” he 


• THE HUNDRED-YARD RUN. j 

continued, “ and it’s just like death for me to be shut 
up indoors.” 

“ You’ve done so well in your studies, Norman! ” 

'' I know.” The boy’s eyes flashed brightly. “ I’m 
not going to let any fellow cross my goal in algebra 
any more than on the gridiron,” he said. “ But there 
are places where my studies would count, and yet not 
tie up my arms and legs. There’s West Point,” he 
added doubtfully. 

His mother shook her head. “ I don’t really be- 
lieve you would enjoy being a soldier in time of peace; 
and if there were a war ” 

She paused abruptly, with quivering lips. The boy 
followed her glance to a sword hanging in its scab- 
bard over the mantle. It had belonged to a dear 
brother of hers, dearer in those old days than any 
one else in the world; she had never wholly recovered 
from the blow of his death in the peach orchard ” 
at Gettysburg when she was hardly more than a 
child. 

“ I know, mother,” said Norman gently, and was 
silent. 

“ Let’s plan about Washington,” said Hallie,, wisely 
changing the subject. “ Have you decided where we 
shall stop, mamma?” 

The Thanksgiving recess was close at hand, and 
Mrs. Holmes, who had been left a comfortable com- 
p^etence by her husband when he died, five years be- 


8 


NAVY BLUE. 


fore the date of our story, had invited her children 
to visit the capital with her during i^acation. 

She gladly left the troublesome topic of Norman’s 
future career, and entered eagerly into the young 
folks’ plans for the journey, little dreaming how im- 
portant was the part that very excursion was destined 
to play in solving the oft-discussed problem now so 
easily put aside. 




CHAPTER II. 


AT THE CAPITAL. 

Although the Holmes were well-to-do people and 
abundantly able to travel, Mrs. Holmes had preferred 
to live quietly at home during the years since her 
husband’s death. He had been a prosperous mer- 
chant, and she had left the management of family 
affairs almost wholly in his hands. Now that Norman 
was sixteen and Hallie fast growing to womanhood, 
she felt that she ought to deny herself the comfort of 
peaceful seclusion, and show the young people some- 
thing of the world outside of St. Botolph, which had 
always been their home. One or two gentlemen in 
high official positions at Washington were old friends 
of her husband, and to that city she determined the 
first visit should be paid. 

Hallie was half wild at the thought of the journey, 
and Norman, though he felt his dignity demanded a 
stoical repression of his feelings, was looking forward 
to the trip with hardly less eagerness. 

The appointed day arrived at last, and Mrs. Holmes, 
with many charges to her two tidy servants to look 
after the house and repel burglars during her absence, 


10 


JVAFV BLUE. 


turned her back upon her home and, with the young 
people, rode to the New York, New Haven, and Hart- 
ford Railroad station, where, in the early evening, 
they took possession of their Pullman sections, which 
Norman had taken care to engage a week beforehand. 

Hallie had never before taken a sleeping-car 
journey, and was full of delighted interest in car, 
passengers, and moonlit landscape. With great glee 
she climbed to her upper berth, above her mother, 
and it was a long while before she could fairly com- 
pose herself for sleep. Norman was in the berth next 
her own, and they wished each other good-night with 
a handshake around the polished partition at the top 
of the car. As for Mrs. Holmes, she accepted the 
situation resignedly — draughts, noises, cramped quar- 
ters, and all. It was a striking contrast to her own 
comfortable apartment at home, but she supported 
herself, no doubt, wifh the thought that she was en- 
during all this for her children’s sake. 

After a broken night, in the small hours of which 
Norman had considered it absolutely necessary for 
him to dress and go out upon the deck of the “ Mary- 
lan*S,” the huge ferryboat that bore the whole train 
from Harlem to New Jersey, a bright November 
morning found our friends entering the suburbs of 
Philadelphia. Toilets were hastily accomplished, and 
breakfast served at the little table in the Holmes 
section as the cars dashed along across the corner of 


AT THE CAPITAL, 


II 


Delaware and into Maryland. Baltimore was now 
entered and left behind, and considerably before noon 
our party arrived, tired but happy, in Washington, 
where they took up their quarters at Willard’s, be- 
cause Mr. Holmes had always stopped there in the 
dear old days. 

Norman and his sister were all impatience to set 
out on a tour of inspection, and after an early lunch 
the three travellers fared forth from the hotel. 

It is no part of our story to follow them in their 
sight-seeing at the capital. They began with the 
Capitol itself, and ended with the top of the monu- 
ment — at least Norman did; Hallie and her mother 
being content to inspect its base, and take, as the 
former said, “ a bird’s-eye view of the apex.” 

“ ^ Bird’s-eye ’ ! ” scoffed Norman. You’d have 
to go up in a balloon to get that kind of a view.” 

“ I was thinking of hens,” remarked Hallie serenely. 

We’ll wait for you here, dear, while you go up.” 

Norman subsided and went, chuckling. He was 
always proud of his sister when she got the best of 
an argument, even if he himself had the wrong end 
of it. * 

What impressed the boy most in the great white 
building at the head of Pennsylvania Avenue was its 
earnest Americanism. Everywhere throughout its vast 
corridors, halls, and porticos, and in the open air, he 
saw the figure of the American Indian; representations 


12 


J\rAFV BLUE. 


of the discovery by Columbus, of Revolutionary 
scenes and heroes. He was thrilled by Trumbull’s 
four great pictures in the rotunda, most of all by the 

Declaration of Independence.” He felt, as never 
before, a grand pride in being himself an American, 
and in his heart was born a new resolve to prove 
himself worthy to bear that honored name. 

“ That is my flag! ” he said to himself as he watched 
the beautiful stars and stripes rising and falling in the 
November wind. Before this day he had thought of 
it as merely an inseparable part of Fourth of July and 
gay processions; now it suddenly became precious to 
him as the symbol of his country’s honor and glory, 
which he was bound to uphold. 

He paused a long while before the beautiful “ Peace 
Monument,” close by, and his boyish heart swelled 
as he read the simple inscriptions: “In Memory of 
the Officers, Seamen, and Marines of the United 
States Navy, who fell in defense of the Union and 
Liberty of their Country, 1861-1865.” “ They died 

that their country might live.” 

These last words rang in his ears, over and over. 
“ Their country ” — and his! There was Victory with 
her laurel wreath, and, best of all, Peace, sweet and 
gracious, holding her world-old symbol, an olive- 
branch. 

It was not that the North had triumphed over her 
sister States; the South, too, had fought nobly, if mis- 


AT THE CAPITAL. 


13 


takenly. It was the sacrifice of home, loved ones, life, 
everything, for — “their country!” It was this that 
moved the boy, until his lip quivered and he turned 
away to hide his emotion from his mother and sister. 

A few hours later they were in the Treasury Depart- 
ment, marvelling at the heaps of wealth stored there, 
and at the wonderful system which could administer 
such a powerful engine for good or evil. 

In succeeding days they visited the Patent Office, 
with its “ wheels within wheels,” the Smithsonian 
Institution, and the new Library. Through the in- 
fluence of friends they were privately and kindly re- 
ceived by the cabinet officers and their families, and 
by the Chief Magistrate of the nation. 

As Norman looked upon the President’s grave, 
strong face, and felt the clasp of the hand that con- 
trolled and guided the prosperity and happiness of 
seventy-five million people, he realized that there were 
heroes of peace as well as of war; that scenes of 
carnage and bloodshed are not necessary for the exhi- 
bition of noble devotion to the motherland; that he 
could give his life to his country, a strong, true, manly 
life, throbbing with vitality and energy, devoted to 
her, and through her to Him whom she herself, in 
every public act from the great Declaration to the 
latest vote of Congress, acknowledged to be her 
Ruler. 

His own course the boy felt all at once to be clear. 


14 


ATAFY BLUE. 


America was not at war with any nation. Secure 
within her own borders, firm in the maintenance of 
honorable dignity before the powers beyond the seas, 
her hands stretched forth to succor the helpless, to 
feed the hungry, to clothe the destitute, her voice was 
ever for peace on earth, good-will toward men. 
To her and to her God would he give himself utterly 
from that time forward. He would be, not a warrior, 
unless she should call her children to arms, but a 
patriot of peace. 

Of all this, Norman Holmes said nothing whatever 
to his mother and sister. If they saw his bosom 
heave, his eyes moisten; if they noticed his quickly 
caught breath and averted face, they, with the wis- 
dom of woman and the tact of love, only exchanged 
glances and were silent. 

Last of all, on the day before, their departure for 
home our little party arrived at the huge granite 
building occupied by the ‘‘ State, War, and Navy.” 
They wandered through many of its five hundred 
rooms, and Mrs. Holmes was sure they travelled over 
a good deal more than the “ two miles of corridors ” 
proclaimed by the guide-book. They examined all 
sorts of relics of great deeds and great lives. 

In spite of the five days’ education they had re- 
ceived and the experience already gained as to public 
men and their surroundings, their call on the Secre- 
tary of the Navy was a genuine surprise to them. 


AT THE CAPITAL. 


15 


“ Didn’t you think he’d have buttons and gold 
anchors and things?” whispered Hallie as she left 
the building with her brother. “ And the War Sec- 
retary hadn’t a sign of a sword! ” 

Even Norman, who had pretty thoroughly learned 
his illustrated lesson on “ Heroes of Peace,” con- 
fessed to a little disappointment. The Honorable 
Secretary, who directed the course of great battle- 
ships hither and thither across the globe as if they 
were toy boats drawn by a child over the pond in the 
public garden, proved to be a courteous, genial gen- 
tleman, adorned with no marine symbols whatever, 
without “ foul anchor ” or eagle, and with unmistak- 
ably domestic buttons. Only the marked deference 
shown by his subordinates, the awed embarrassment 
of a young naval officer who had an interview with 
the Secretary in their presence, and one or two marine 
views and models in the audience-room, gave intima- 
tion of the high office and tremendous authority of 
the quiet gentleman who, on reading their note of 
introduction, welcomed the visitors so simply and 
cordially. 

“ And how about this young man? ” said he, grasp- 
ing Norman’s hand, and noting the boy’s erect bear- 
ing and clear, bright eye. “ Shall we have him in the 
navy before long? ” 

“ I — — we haven’t decided what he will do when 
he leaves school,” replied Mrs. Holmes, glancing at 


i6 


J\rAVy BLUE. 


her son apprehensively. He had thought — I had 
wished he would go through Harvard and adopt a 
profession.” 

“ College is a good place — I’m a Harvard man 
myself,” said the Secretary with a smile. But the 
navy is a capital place, too, especially for young 
fellows who want an active, outdoor life, and aren’t 
afraid of hard work. You look as if you were fond of 
athletics, my lad.” 

“ Football,” replied Norman modestly. And oh, 
how he did wish somebody would tell the Secretary 
about that hundred-yard run! 

“ Ah, I see. Rough game that, but good for nerve 
and muscle. Did it interfere with your studies?” 

“ Not very much, sir.” 

“ He’s third in his class, sir,” put in Hallie, who 
wias longing to sing her brother’s praises. 

“ Just the kind of young men we want in the navy,” 
said the great man in his curt, incisive way. Think 
of it, Mrs. Holmes, and — wait a minute, please.” 

He touched a knob by his desk, and a clerk entered 
the room noiselessly. 

“ Step down to Mr. Cheyney’s room and bring me a 
copy of the Naval Academy Register and the Rules 
for Admission.” 

Mrs. Holmes could say nothing against the Secre- 
tary’s suggestions — indeed, he spoke like a man accus- 
tomed to having his own way — and waited with some 


AT THE CAPITAL. 


17 

misgivings for the return of the messenger, who pres- 
ently handed his superior a couple of pamphlets. 

“ Look these over at your leisure, madam,” said the 
Secretary, rising, and let this office know if we can 
be of any assistance to you or your son.” 

The Holmes took the hint and made their adieux. 
As they walked down the corridor and retraced their 
steps to the hotel, eagerly discussing the gentlemen 
and the building they had just left, Norman held his 
hand out to his mother. 

Please let me have those pamphlets. I want to 
read them on the way home.” 

Thus the seed was planted. 

2 


CHAPTER III. 


ON BOARD A BATTLESHIP. 

On arriving at Willard’s two or three hours later, 
Mrs. Holmes was surprised to find a letter waiting 
for her in an envelope stamped “ Navy Department.” 
It read as follows: 

“Office of the Secretary of the Navy, 
“Washington, D. C. 

'‘'‘Dear Madam : 

“ Your visit to the Navy Department will hardly be complete 
without an inspection of one of the large warships, in which I am 
sure your son will be especially interested. If you care to stop over 

Saturday forenoon in New York, the enclosed letter to Captain S 

will enable you to go on board one of our largest battleships, now 
lying at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.” 

Here followed the signature of the head of the 
department upon whom they had just called. 

It was of no use for Mrs. Holmes to try to with- 
stand the entreaties of blue-eyed Hallie or the more 
dignified reasoning of her brother. Such an oppor- 
tunity might never come again, he said earnestly. 
While the wai ships were often thrown open to visitors 
during the summer cruises of the North Atlantic 


ON BOARD A BATTLESHIP. 


19 


Squadron, a visit at such a time was always rendered 
uncomfortable by the crowd, while at Brooklyn they 
could go quietly on board and see the great ship, not 
in her holiday attire, but just as she was, in every-day 
life, with no curious throng to hinder. 

Besides,” said Hallie, “ it was so kind of the Sec- 
retary to send us the letter. I just know he’s dying 
to get Norm into the navy! ” 

There was a good laugh at this, and Norman pulled 
his sister’s thick brown “ pigtail,” while their mother, 
who appreciated the courtesy shown by the high 
official, as well as the fine opportunity afforded for a 
visit to the ship, good-humoredly yielded the point 
and gave her consent. Luckily their through Pull- 
man tickets had not been paid for, and could be ex- 
changed — as they were within the next thirty minutes 
— for accommodations to New York by the night 
train. 

The next morning, therefore, found them on the 
elevated road, rumbling down Sixth Avenue on a level 
with the housetops of lower New York city, toward 
the Brooklyn Bridge. Here, without descending to 
the street, they found a cable train waiting, and were 
conveyed across the river — a wonderful experience in 
itself — to Brooklyn, which had not yet become a part 
of “ Greater New York.” 

A dingy little horse-car bore the trio to the Navy 
Yard gates, where an orderly appeared, and, on being 


20 


NAVY BLUE, 


told their errand, directed them respectfully, but with 
military curtness, to the wharf where the battleship 
was temporarily moored. 

An armed sentry was pacing to and fro in front of 
the narrow gang-plank, but his musket fell back to his 
shoulder when he saw the letter with its department 
stamp. 

Do ye see the young officer beyant, with the 
soord? ” he asked, pointing to the deck of the ship. 

“ Yes — why ” (to her children) he looks hardly 
older than a boy! ” 

Sure he’s the officer of the deck, mem. Ye can 
show your letter to him.” 

The boyish young fellow in a long blue coat (for it 
was a sharp morning) touched his cap to Mrs. Holmes 
as, having crossed the gang-plank with the others, she 
approached him and presented her letter. 

Straight as an arrow, with the gravity and dignity 
of an admiral, the officer of the deck received the 
missive and glanced at the address. 

I am sorry, madam, that Captain S has not 

come on board this morning. If you wish, you can 
present your letter to the executive officer. Lieutenant 
R . That’s he standing over there.” 

Lieutenant R proved to be a most courteous 

and kindly gentleman; another surprise to Norman 
and Hallie, who had expected here at least, on the 
very deck of a fighting vessel, to meet in the senior 


ON BOARD A BATTLESHIP, 


21 


officers only grim and war-seasoned veterans of fierce 
mien and abrupt manners. On the contrary, it may 
be recorded here that every naval officer they met on 
board proved to be a gentleman in the best sense of 
the word; a man with a face into which a child would 
smile with confidence, but at the same time clearly 
marked by a strength and character that it could not 
but command respect from the most heedless. 

The executive officer, on reading the Secretary’s 
letter, greeted his guests kindly, and sent for a cadet, 
to whom he gave the party in charge. Mrs. Holmes 
was soon content to rest in the cabin, but the young 
people eagerly followed their guide, who was a fine, 
strapping fellow of twenty or thereabouts. It was his 
fifth year in the academy, he explained to Norman. 

“ The academy? ” 

Yes. I am still a cadet, you know. The regular 
course in the academy covers six years, but the two 
last years are afloat, in actual service on board ship.” 

“ Do you mean,” asked Hallie, in awestruck tones, 
“ that if there were a war ” 

“ I should be in it? ” laughed the cadet, taking a 
peep at the girl’s big blue eyes. “ Why, yes, all of us 
in the two upper classes, and very likely the next class 
below would be called out, as they were in the Civil 
War. The navy is undermanned just at present, 
they are building so many new ships.” 

“And you would have to fight?” 


22 


JVAFV BLUE. 


“Rather!” The cadet squared his shoulders, and 
gave another short laugh. “ See here, here’s my sta- 
tion in action. I have charge of this turret, with a 
dozen men under me. You’d have seen, if you’d been 
here a little earlier this morning, when all hands were 
beat to quarters.” 

“ Beat! ” exclaimed Hallie. 

“ Called, then. There isn’t any ^ cat ’ in the navy 
now! ” 

They entered the eight-inch gun turret from above, 
and found themselves in a small, round apartment, 
walled, floored, and ceiled with iron and steel. The 
centre of the turret was occupied by the polished steel 
breech of an enormous gun, which projected through 
an opening for ten or fifteen feet over the deck. 

“ But how can you point it at anything? ” asked 
Norman, viewing the terrible engine of war with im- 
mense respect. 

“ Here is the elevating gear,” said the cadet, show- 
ing him how it worked. “ I stand up there on that 
little platform and sight her, while one of the men 
follows my directions. Then the whole turret re- 
volves by electricity, you know, so we have a pretty 
wide range.” 

“ How far will it fire? ” 

“ Oh, this gun carries about eight miles a projectile 
weighing two hundred and fifty pounds. Here’s the 
loading apparatus. The bags of powder and solid 


ON BOARD A BATTLESHIP, 


23 


shot are sent up (by electricity) from the magazine 
below, on that little curving railway. This arrange- 
ment at your side seizes the ammunition, and the 
breech of the gun being opened — so — ^swings in the 
charge.’’ 

But I should think the noise would just kill you, 
shut up in here! ” exclaimed the girl. “ Why, I have 
to stop my ears when they fire cannon on the com- 
mon a quarter of a mile away.” 

“ No,” replied the cadet, “ the noise is mostly out- 
side the turret. It doesn’t trouble us in here. You’ve 
no idea how cosy and comfortable it is during 
practice! ” 

“ ' Cosy and comfortable ’ ! Well, I never! ” 

“ And probably never will,” laughed Norman, 
himself considerably impressed by the young cadet’s 
cool bearing. “ What are those long tubes for, 
please? ” 

There were two of them, about eight inches in 
diameter, affixed to the gun and parallel with it. 

''They are to receive the recoil when the gun is 
discharged. Otherwise this turret and everybody in 
it would stand a good chance of being rushed over- 
board in a hurry.” 

"I should think so!” exclaimed Norman, viewing 
the breech of the huge piece, rising to the level of his 
shoulders. " I have had an old-fashioned musket 
knock me flat with its ' kick,’ and one can guess what 


24 


JVAFV BLUE. 


heels this great thing would have! But how can 
those tubes ‘ receive the recoil ’ ? What is there in 
them?’’ 

“A mixture of glycerine and water of proportions 
exactly adapted to the pressure to be met, which is 
calculated to the third decimal. That’s what mathe- 
matics and physics mean in the academy! By a 
certain adjustment of the machinery the force of the 
recoil is received upon piston-rods which are driven 
into those tubes, and resisted gradually, to a complete 
stop, on the hydraulic principle.” 

This was getting beyond the two listeners, and they 
were glad to turn to less complicated parts of the ship. 
They were shown the ward-room, between-decks; the 
mess-tables of the men, fastened up in racks to the 
under side of the deck above; the sick-bay, with its 
terribly significant apparatus; the guns in the open air, 
the steering gear and that for signalling the engineer 
— all worked by electricity. 

Leaving Hallie with her mother, Norman descended 
into the depths of the vessel, and visited the engine 
and boiler rooms; he saw the ugly-looking torpedoes, 
exactly like sharks, waiting to be let loose upon the 
enemy. Returning to the deck, he was allowed to 
clamber up to one of the fighting-tops, from which he 
could overlook the whole ship and imagine a fight 
going on; the decks filled with struggling, shouting 
crowds of seamen, officers and marines, or half hidden 


ON BOARD A BATTLESHIP. 


25 


by volumes of smoke belched forth by the guns he had 
seen and patted. 

It was almost mess-time, and the visitors knew they 
ought to go. They heartily thanked their guide, as 
well as the senior officer; and so bidding adieu to the 
great floating fort, went on shore. 

“ Anyway, I feel safer than I did before,” said 
Hallie. “ That big ship may never have a battle, but 
I guess nobody will want to sail up our harbor with 
her in sight ” 

“ Or, say, within eight miles! ” added her brother. 

As long as daylight lasted that afternoon Norman 
sat by the car-window and pored over the “ Regula- 
tions of the Naval Academy,” taking no heed of the 
gentle Connecticut landscape through which the train 
was swiftly flying over the rails toward home. 


CHAPTER IV. 


LAST DAYS AT SCHOOL. 

School life at St. Botolph began once more, but 
was soon interrupted by the Christmas recess. Of 
course the Holmes house, like thousands of others all 
over New England, had been full of mystery and 
brown-paper packages during the earlier days of 
December. 

Norman worked faithfully at his studies, but his 
teachers observed a new ardor in mathematics and a 
slight falling off in Greek and Latin. 

On Christmas morning the little home festivities 
took place. When Mr. Holmes was alive, there was 
always a large family gathering at this season, but 
now the circle was narrowed, and the observance of 
the Day of days a very quiet one. Notable among 
the gifts received by Norman was a large, flat package, 
marked From Hallie,^’ which, on being opened, 
proved to be a book of photogravures illustrating 
familiar scenes in the naval service. There were the 
great white warships, including the very one they had 
visited; boat races between rival crews; the arrival 


LAST DAYS AT SCHOOL, 


27 


of the ship's purveyor after a marketing trip; target 
practice at sea, and many other stirring scenes. 

“ Ah-h-h! ” said Norman with a long breath as he 
surveyed the last one and turned back to the begin- 
ning, “ that’s just what I wanted, Hal, or would have 
wanted, if I. had known there was such a book! ” 

“ It’s to break you of the idea of going into the 
navy,” remarked his sister demurely. ‘‘ I hope it has 
succeeded,” she added, with a sly glance at her mother. 

Mrs. Holmes no longer looked distressed at the 
mention of Uncle Sam’s service afloat. There had 
been a good many family discussions on this subject 
during the month, and plans, though still vague, were 
beginning to take shape. 

At about this time a letter came from her brother- 
in-law, a prosperous Chicago banker, whom she had 
consulted by mail, as a man of large experience and 
considerable acquaintance at Washington and in the 
navy. Indeed, it was his introduction which had 
paved the way to the pleasant interview with the 
Secretary. 

The letter ran as follows: 

“ Chicago, December 13, 189-. 

‘ ‘ Dear Mary : 

“Your letter of the 9th inst. is at hand. As I look at the matter 
now, the naval service seems to offer exceptional opportunities and 
advantages to Norman, who is fitted by temperament and constitu- 
tion for just such a career. No, it would not ‘ remove him from all 


28 


NAVY BLUE. 


social and home life.’ You must get that idea out of your head. 
In the first place, he will have as much of the year with his family 
as many — perhaps most — college men have ; certainly as much as 
he ought to have while he is forming his character and preparing to 
take his place in the active world among men. I have seen many 
a morbid recluse and many a fastidious young gentleman of unques- 
tioned morals and reputation whom I fairly longed to give a cruise 
on a government vessel. It was just what they needed. Norman 
might, to be sure, enter one of the learned professions, or I might 
be induced to try him in the bank ; but it would be years before he 
could, in reason, become ‘ successful,’ as men call it, in any one of 
those lines ; and the chances are that he would lead a humdrum, 
careless, comfortable life, coddled in the luxuries with which you 
and Hallie could not resist surrounding him as long as your income 
exceeded fifteen thousand dollars, as I know it does now, with a 
prospect of increase if Calumet and Hecla keeps on rising and declar- 
ing extra dividends ! 

“ Now as to the practical side of the question. I advise by all 
means that Norman keep steadily on with his school course, gradu- 
ating in June. His standing, I believe, is high, and it would be a 
pity to break the clean record he has made at the old ‘ Latin ’ just as 
it was drawing to a successful close. It would be like withdrawing 
money from the savings bank a week before interest day. 

“ Let him do his level best, then, during the next six months, 
and round out his course with honor and credit to himself and the 
old school — the oldest in America. You know I always have a soft 
spot for it in my tough old heart ! 

“ Meanwhile he can put in a little extra time, if he choose, 
on the special branches on which the entrance examination to 
Annapolis is based, namely, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, 
geography, English grammar. United States history, and algebra. 
Deficiency in any one of these subjects, I am told, would be suffi- 
cient to insure his rejection. 


LAST DAYS AT SCHOOL. 


29 


“ For my own part, I will, unless my views change, write to Hon. 

S B . Member of Congress from your district, and see what 

the chances are for a presentation of your son’s name as a candidate 
for admission to the Academy next fall ; the regular day for exam- 
ination being, I believe, September ist ; next year it should come on 
the 2d, as the ist falls on Sunday. 

‘ ‘ Perhaps you do not know the rules for presentation of candi- 
dates.” 

“ It isn’t Norman’s fault if we don’t,” interrupted 
Hallie as her mother was reading this letter aloud. 
“ He’s said those rules over till we all know them by 
heart.” 

“ Well, let’s see what Uncle Richard says, just the 
same,” said Norman. “ Go on, please, mother.” 

“I will quote directly from the ‘Regulations’ issued by the 
Bureau of Navigation at Washington : 

“ ‘ There shall be allowed at said Academy one Naval Cadet for 
every Member or Delegate of the House of Representatives, one for 
the District of Columbia, and ten at large. Provided^ however^ 
That there shall not be at any time more in said Academy appointed 
at large than ten. 

“ ‘ The Secretary of the Navy shall, as soon after the fifth of 
March in each year as possible ’ 

(Here Hallie made a wry face and wondered, in a 
whisper, “ if the man who wrote that rule had passed 
an examination in English! ”) 

“ ‘ notify, in writing, each Member and Delegate of the House of 
Representatives of any vacancy that may exist in his district. The 
nomination of a candidate to fill said vacancy shall be made upon 


30 


NAVY BLUE, 


the recommendation of the Member or Delegate, if such recom- 
mendation is made by the first day of July of that year ; but if it is 
not made by that time the Secretary of the Navy shall fill the 
vacancy by appointment of an actual resident of the district in 
which the vacancy exists, who shall have been for at least two years 
immediately preceding the date of his appointment an actual and 
bona fide resident of the district in which the vacancy exists and of 
the legal qualification under the law as now provided. The candi- 
date for the District of Columbia and all the candidates appointed 
at large shall be selected by the President. 

“ ‘ Candidates allowed for Congressional districts, for Territories, 
and for the District of Columbia, must be actual residents of the 
districts or Territories, respectively, from which they are nominated. 
And all candidates must, at the time of their examination for admis- 
sion, be between the ages of fifteen and twenty years, and physically 
sound, well formed, and of robust constitution.’ 

“You can find out all about the general character of the mental 
examination by sending to the ‘ Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, 
Navy Department, Washington,’ for a copy of the ‘ Regulations 
Governing the Admission of Candidates into the United States 
Naval Academy.’ ” 


The rest of the letter was of a personal nature and 
would not interest us. The “ Regulations ” were al- 
ready, as we know, in Norman’s desk, and, as Hallie 
said, were familiar to all the members of the house- 
hold. 

Mr. Wheatley’s advice was at once acted upon. 
Norman and his mother had an interview with the 
Latin School head-master, who, while regretting that 
the promising lad should give up a university course. 


LAST DAYS AT SCHOOL. 


31 


recognized the situation and promised to do all in his 
power to help his favorite pupil on his way to a suc- 
cessful encounter with the now dreaded entrance 
papers at Annapolis. 

The winter glided rapidly by, and the days were 
full of work and pleasure. Military drill absorbed 
much of Norman’s attention, for he was the command- 
ing officer of the First Battalion of the School Regi- 
ment, and was, of course, particularly anxious that his 
command should outdo the old-time rivals of the 
High. There were, to be sure, no competitive exer- 
cises between the battalions, but they manoeuvred be- 
fore a large audience on successive days, and the 
newspaper reports contained the criticisms of regular 
army officers, together with comparison of the forces 
of the two schools. On the whole, the Latin School 
boy was satisfied with the published comments, which 
were, for the most part, in his favor, exceptions being 
taken only in regard to one or two details of company 
movement and alignment. 

Early in June came the crowning day of the year, 
the public declamation and award of prizes. Norman 
had worked hard at his studies, and was admitted to 
be the best speaker of his class. 

In the large hall of the Latin School a gay crowd of 
mothers and sisters, with a fair sprinkling of fathers 
and elder brothers, assembled that day to hear the 
boys express their sentiments on the American 


32 


NAVY BLUE. 


Revolution, the banishment of Catiline, and various 
other subjects which had fired their young hearts 
and resulted in this five-minute outburst of eloquence. 
An orchestra of High School boys magnanimously 
discoursed sweet music at stated intervals. One after 
another of the Latin pupils, beginning with young 
gentlemen in knickerbockers, but with pronounced 
views on the grave topics, already referred to, spoke 
their pieces and retired. 

Last of all came Norman. A murmur of applause 
from his schoolmates, quickly suppressed by a gesture 
of the head-master, showed unmistabably his popular- 
ity among the boys, who might occasionally fail to 
recollect the more obscure parts of an irregular Greek 
verb, but would never forget that hundred-yard run. 

Norman’s piece was entitled on the programme. 

My Country,” and comprised selections from 
Lowell’s great Commemoration Ode.” 

The tired, restless audience grew quiet as they felt 
the spell of the poet’s noble words and of the spirit 
and enthusiasm of the speaker, until he reached these 
lines: 

“ Be proud ! for she is saved, and all have helped to save her ! 
She that lifts up the manhood of the poor, 

She of the open soul and open door, 

With room about her hearth for all mankind ! 

The fire is dreadful in her eyes no more : 

From her bold front the helm she doth unbind, 


LAST DAYS AT SCHOOL. 


33 


Sends all her handmaid armies back to spin, 

And bids her navies, that so lately hurled 
Their crashing battle, hold their thunders in, 

Swimming like birds of calm along the unharmful shore.” 

At this point Norman caught his breath and his 
voice broke a little. Some of the audience thought he 
had forgotten what came next, but Hallie and her 
mother understood his emotion at the grand words 
which so nearly touched his chosen calling. 

The boy mastered himself in a moment and went 
on, his voice ringing out clearer and stronger as he 
neared the close of the ode: 

“ O Beautiful ! my Country ! ours once more ! 

Smoothing thy gold of war-dishevelled hair 
O’er such sweet brows as never other wore, 

And letting thy set lips. 

Freed from wrath’s pale eclipse. 

The rosy edges of their smile lay bare. 

What words divine of lover or of poet 
Could tell our love and make thee know it. 

Among the Nations bright beyond compare ? 

What were our lives without thee ? 

What all our lives, to save thee ? 

We reck not what we gave thee ; 

We will not dare to doubt thee. 

But ask whatever else, and we will dare ! ” 

A thunder of applause almost interrupted the last 
words as Norman bowed lov/ and left the platform. 
With wet eyes and tightly clasped hands one mother 
3 


34 


NAFV BLUE. 


and one blue-eyed sister among the many in that 
audience sat motionless until the clapping died away, 
and the head-master stepped forward to announce the 
prizes for regular school work during the past year. 
Two of these came to Norman, one being for conduct 
and the other for excellence in English branches. 
Then the sweet strains of “ Fair Harvard ” floated out 
over the hall — a time-honored custom of the old Latin 
School at St. Botolph. 

Meanwhile the judges were busy with their calcu- 
lations and figures, and presently a member of the 
School Committee appeared, and after a short speech 
proceeded to award the declamation prizes. We, like 
Hallie and her mother, are interested in only one of 
them, the first, which went to Norman Holmes. 

Another outburst of applause, long and loud, re- 
doubled when the tactful committeeman added with 
a smile, “ May Master Holmes be as successful in after 
life as he has been in his studies — and in football! ” 

More music, the hum of voices, the congratulations 
of friends, loving glances from dear ones — so ended 
Norman’s school-days. 


CHAPTER V. 


DAVE REXDALE. 

“ Well, Jed, this piece is turning out pretty well. 
Look at my last row! ” 

Jedediah Tompkins, ex-man-of-warsman and at 
present man-of-all-work on the Rexdale farm, situated 
in Coos County, New Hampshire, leaned on his 
hoe and wiped the perspiration from his honest 
brow. It was near the close of a hot afternoon in 
late July. 

“Beats all,” said he, “how them ^Arly Rose potatoes 
do grow. Reminds me o’ one time when I was off 
the coast o’ Brazil ” 

“ Yes, I know,” said the other speaker hastily. 
“ You run short of vegetables and had to bring to 
a native boat — you tell me all about it by and by, Jed, 
when we get back to the house. Now let’s dig! ” 

He was a rugged-looking boy of sixteen or seven- 
teen, brown as an Indian, the sleeves of his rough 
flannel shirt rolled back from the forearm, on which 
the veins stood out like whipcords as he worked. 
Dave Rexdale was accounted one of the likeliest 
“hands” in the township of Granite; for he did not 


3 ^ 


NAVY BLUE, 


disdain to hire out ’’ to neighboring farmers when he 
could be spared from his home work. 

Dave was the son of Lieutenant Rexdale, U. S. N., 
whose gallant deeds in the Mississippi Squadron in 
1864 had made him well known throughout the ser- 
vice and at Washington, though they had furnished 
few headlines to the Northern papers. Whenever a 
cool head, quick hand, and absolutely self-forgetful 
courage were needed on board his ship, Rexdale was 
first choice for the special duty required. In recon- 
noitring for obstructions with a boat party, in a 
thick fog, under the very guns of a Confederate fort, 
he had been suddenly discovered and fired on, bring- 
ing his crew back to the ship’s deck with great diffi- 
culty, together with a splinter of the gunwale of his 
boat. The surgeon did his duty expeditiously, but 
Rexdale was a cripple for life. He was honorably 
retired with a fair pension, and returning to his old 
New Hampshire home among the hills, married the 
sweet-faced, shy country-girl whom he had left behind 
when he volunteered at the outbreak of the war, and 
on whom, modest and gentle as she was, the fact of his 
great misfortune had no more effect than a northeast 
gale on an anemone. Singularly enough, that was 
her full name, though she was called Annie by all her 
matter-of-fact associates. 

Dave had an older sister. Prudence, now married 
to an energetic young farmer in Conway; two older 


DAVE EEXDALE. 


37 


brothers, both in business; and a frail, sweet younger 
sister, whose first faint baby cry was the good-by of 
earth to her mother. 

The wee thing hovered in the misty borderland just 
this side of heaven for weeks, but she lived and thrived, 
and she, too, was named “ Anemone.” 

Lieutenant Rexdale did not long survive his wife’s 
death. The orphaned children remained on the farm, 
in charge of their grandparents and a maiden aunt, 
who was of the taciturn old New England stock, and 
w'hose life was a constant struggle not to show the 
children how much she loved them. They, on their 
part, soon pierced Aunt Letitia’s disguise of severity, 
and, it is to be feared, presumed upon their knowledge, 
taking advantage of the forbidding but sure refuge of 
her loyal affection whenever they got into trouble. 

Time passed, the old people fell asleep and rested 
in the little country churchyard, the two older boys 
obtained situations in Boston; Prudence, the older 
sister, blushingly became Mrs. Ezekiel Duncan, and 
Dave, with little Anemone, alone remained on the 
farm with their aunt. 

In this rapid sketch of the Rexdale family history 
I have omitted mention of one faithful soul, Tompkins, 
who had been gunner’s mate under Lieutenant Rex- 
dale, had become devotedly attached to his superior 
officer, and at the close of the war had resigned from 
the navy to serve once more under the crippled lieu- 


38 


JfAVY BLUE. 


tenant, exchanging the handling of the direful ammu- 
nition of war for peaceful manipulation of eggshells 
and potato-balls. His wages were small, as his labor, 
in truth be it confessed, was unskilful; but he could 
not be induced to abandon farming or his “ leftenant,'’ 
whom, when sadly wounded, he had tenderly borne 
over the side of the old Carondelet. 

After the care of his fifteen-year-old sister, one great 
ambition absorbed Dave’s whole thought — ^^to follow 
his father’s footsteps and serve in the navy. Like 
scores of other boys throughout the United States, he 
was now looking forward with a mixture of fear and 
delight to the fall examination at the academy. An 
honest, straightforward presentation of his case to the 
department, with manly reference to his father’s ser- 
vices in the Gulf, and plenty of testimonials from 
school and church in his native town, had obtained 
for him favorable consideration as one of the can- 
didates “ at large ” appointed this year by the Presi- 
dent. Every moment that could be spared from farm 
work had been spent in preparation for the examina- 
tion. Throughout the long winter evenings he had 
worked over his geography, his algebra, and other 
studies, by candle and fire light, receiving no little 
help from Annie, who was bright as a dollar and was 
glad and proud to be of assistance to her brother. 

She was a slight, sweet-faced girl, as her mother 
had been, with grave brown eyes and sunny hair that 


DAVE EEXDALE. 


39 


hung in ringlets, country-fashion, over her shoulders. 
Like Dave, she revered her father’s memory, and be- 
lieved that his son could pay it no more fitting tribute 
than to adopt his calling and pursue it with honor. 
The government provision which allows five hun- 
dred dollars per year as regular pay to cadets obviated 
a difficulty which would have stood in the way of a 
college education, and would enable Dave to meet all 
his own expenses during the academy course. 

Jedediah was weary. Farming was always irksome 
to him, and potato-digging was a duty he would have 
been glad to shirk, had it been consistent with his 
ideas of loyalty to the late leftenant. 

“ Sho, chopped that big feller right in two! ” he ex- 
claimed apologetically after a renewed onslaught with 
his hoe. 

“ Change with me, and take this fork,” said Dave, 
gravely. “ We can’t afford to slice our vegetables 
before they are cooked, Jed.” 

The old man murmured something uncompli- 
mentary to potatoes, but added, relenting, that “ they 
were good for scurvy.” 

'' I’ve sold fifty bushels right in the ground,” con- 
tinued Dave, opening another hill of great pink-and- 
russet beauties. “ Hobbs wants ’em before the end 
of the week to send to one of the big hotels.” 

“ Wish he had to dig ’em himself! ” 

“Jed,” laughed Dave, hoeing away vigorously, “if 


40 


NAVY BLUE, 


you ever stop grumbling, I shall think you need a 
doctor! You needn’t work unless you want to, you 
know.” , 

“ I’d like to have about a thousand dollars an’ settle 
down,” remarked the man-o’-warsman. “ Look at 
that craft, now, loaded with dollars from keelson to 
truck! ” 

Dave paused a moment to gaze at the big mountain 
tally-ho coach that came rumbling down the hill 
towards them in a cloud of dust, its six horses at full 
gallop, its roof covered with a gay crowd of young 
people. 

The girls waved their scarlet parasols to the farmer- 
lad, and two or three well-dressed young men swung 
their hats. Just as Dave returned the salute, Jed cried 
out, “Look out! Look out, thar! Slow up! Port 
yer helm, or you’ll be onto the big rock! ” 

The big rock was a bad obstruction in the granite 
road at this point. It had been brought to the atten- 
tion of the selectmen, and had been mentioned more 
than once in town meeting. It was the outcrop of an 
ugly ledge that ran diagonally across the road; and 
every farmer within ten miles knew of it, as his father 
and grandfather had before him, and slowed up his 
team, purely from habit, in driving over it. The road 
had been filled in up to its level, time and again, but 
the sandy soil would disappear in the next heavy 
rain. At the very last town meeting fifty dollars had 



THE TALLY-HO COACH, 






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DAVE EEXDALE. 


41 


been appropriated, in the face of determined opposi- 
tion from thrifty taxpayers, for the purpose of blasting 
the obnoxious ledge out of the way, and levelling the 
road to its normal grade, but nothing had as yet been 
done. 

“ Gracious, they’re over! ” shouted Dave, dropping 
his fotk and springing toward the wall that bounded 
the road. 

The nigh forward wheel of the coach had struck the 
ledge fairly at full speed, and in a moment the huge 
vehicle was overturned with a dull crash, the passen- 
gers hurled in a shrieking heap into the gully by the 
roadside, and the horses piled up in the road beyond 
them. 


CHAPTER VI. 


A WRECK ON DRY LAND. 

• 

One of the first of the fallen passengers to regain 
his feet, as Dave bounded over the wall to their suc- 
cor, was a boy of about his own age or slightly 
younger. His neat clothing was torn and dusty and 
he had a bad cut on his forehead; otherwise he seemed 
unhurt. 

“ Help the driver with the horses, will you, please? ” 
he panted as he turned to assist one of the girls who 
had fallen a little beyond the rest. 

“ I guess ril take right hold here,” said Dave, tak- 
ing in the situation at a glance. “ The horses are all 
right.” 

The two worked together, helping the dishevelled, 
sobbing, bruised passengers, one after another, to 
their feet. One young man remained on the ground; 
it was evident that his leg was broken; and one of the 
girls, on rising, had immediately sunk down again 
with a cry of pain. 

Dave now ran to the drivers assistance, and found 
him, aided by Tompkins, getting the last of the six 
trembling horses upon his feet. One of the driver’s 


A WHECK ON DRY LAND. 


43 


arms hung helplessly at his side; his team were ap- 
parently all unhurt beyond a few slight cuts and 
bruises. 

“ It's the fault o’ that blamed rock,” shouted the 
driver with an oath. “ The town’s liable fer damages, 
an’ ” 

“ Never mind that now,” sharply interrupted the 
boy who had first accosted Dave. “ The question is, 
what to do with the injured passengers. Mr. Mars- 
den’s leg is broken, and my sister has a badly sprained 
ankle, if nothing worse. How far is it to the nearest 
doctor’s? ” 

“ Ye’ll have to go to the Corner, Mr. Holmes,” said 
the driver sulkily. “ That’s about five mile an’ a half 

from here. Ef I’d known ” 

Your sister can be taken to my house,” said Dave 
to the boy, with a glance at the girl who was resting 
on the turf against the wall, with a white face; “ the 
ride’s a pretty long one, and the road’s rough. Be- 
sides, it’ll take time to raise the coach and fix it up so 
it can be drawn to the Corner. The off hind wheel’s 
turned under, and half the spokes are out. We shall 
have to rig a joist over the front axle, and let it drag 
at a walk. Everybody’s welcome to that house yon- 
der,” he added in a louder voice, addressing the rest 
of the company, who were all talking at the same time, 
pinning up torn gowns and comparing bruises. 

About half the number accepted the invitation with 


44 


JVAVV BLU£, 


a nod of thanks, and limped off up the hill to the farm- 
house. The young fellow whose injury was severest 
was made as comfortable as possible with coats and 
shawls in the shade of a neighboring apple-tree which 
overhung the wall. 

“ I’d like to have my sister go to your house,” said 
Norman — for he it was — “ but she can’t walk a step. 
Do you suppose we can carry her? ” 

For reply Dave stepped over to Hallie’s side, and 
before she fairly guessed what he was about, raised 
her gently in his arms as if she were a baby, though 
she was in reality nearly as tall as Norman himself 
and no light burden. 

‘‘ Oh! ” cried Hallie, “ please! I’m too heavy! ” 

Dave smiled and took up his march toward the 
house. 

Don’t worry, miss,” he said. “ It’s no trouble at 
all.” Not a very brilliant remark, but he couldn’t for 
the life of him think of anything else to say; and to 
tell the truth, by the time he reached the top of the 
hill he hadn’t much breath left for general conversa- 
tion. 

Depositing the suffering girl in a big easy-chair, he 
left her to the ministrations of Annie and Miss Letitia, 
and soon hurried back to the wreck. Jed and the 
driver, under direction of the former, who was now 
in his element, were engaged in rigging a rope and 
block from the tree to the coach. The horses had 


A IVRECK ON DRY LAND. 


45 

been led some distance down the road and were in 
charge of one of the passengers. 

Dave at once joined the workers, but before the 
rope was made fast to the coach Mr. Hobbs, the 
forthputting dealer to whom the Rexdales had sold 
their early potato crop, came jogging along in a light 
“ democrat ” wagon. 

“ Hulloa! ” he exclaimed, alighting stiffly. ‘‘ Whoa, 
girl! — what’s up?” 

“ It’s down,” said Jed tersely, with a dry chuckle, 
from among the springs of the coach. “ Can’t ye see 
fer yourself, Mr. Hobbs? The craft’s capsized.” 

Sho! Had a spill, ain’t ye? Anybody hurt? ” 

In view of the presence of half a dozen young ladies 
who looked as if they had just emerged from a first- 
class football scrimmage, and of poor Mr. Marsden 
groaning beside the wall, with a pretty girl fanning 
him and holding salts to his nose, the question was 
hardly necessary. Indeed, good-natured Mr. Hobbs 
did not wait for an answer, but proffered his services 
at once. 

“ I c’n take holt an’ help on gittin’ up the stage- 
cu’ch,” he remarked, “ or I c’n carry two or three 
on ye over t’ the Corner, whar thar’s a hotel an’ ” 
(with a glance at the sufferer and the attendant 
little Sister of Mercy) a doctor — ef so be he’s ’t 
home.” 

“Oh, do take poor Mr, Marsden!” exclaimed the 


46 


NAVY BLUE. 


pretty girl; “and — and I’ll go too, to take care of 
him.” 

The dealer’s eyes twinkled a moment, but he only 
turned to the others with perfect gravity, and bidding 
them “ ketch holt,” applied himself to lifting the in- 
jured man into his wagon; a task which, with their 
aid, he accomplished with wonderful gentleness, 
though his movements were clumsy and his hands 
big and horny. 

Up climbed the girl, and with a chorus of “ Good- 
by, Miss Whipple! Good-by, Dollie! ” from those left 
behind, the wagon and its three passengers disap- 
peared down the dusty road. 

In due time the coach slowly came creaking up to 
its normal position after many a sturdy pull and 
“ Heave, boys! ” from the old sailor, who viewed his 
work with great satisfaction, not unmixed with regret 
that it was so soon over. 

The joist was arranged, the horses harnessed, the 
excursionists recalled from the farmhouse, and one 
after another entered the now disreputable-looking 
vehicle, most of them preferring, strange to say, the 
inside seats. 

“Come, Norman! Here you are. Holmes!” 
shouted two or three of the company as he remained 
standing beside the road. “ Where’s your sister? 
Miss Holmes isn’t here! ” 

“We aren’t going,” said Norman soberly. “Hallie’s 


A WRECK ON DRY LAND. 


A1 

sufifering a good deal, and they say she mustn’t be 
jolted over the road. I was just going to ask you to 
hunt up the doctor for me, and send him along as fast 
a'? he can come. I may have to telegraph to Boston 
for Dr. Lothrop.” 

“Oh, too bad! Can't she come? We’ll hold her 
all the way,” cried the girls. 

“ No, it’s no use. The people here are very kind, 
and say we can stay overnight as well as not. Good- 
by! We’ll see you all at the hotel to-morrow, I hope.” 

Dave Rexdale sprang up beside the driver just as 
the latter gathered his reins for a start. 

“ I’m going for that doctor myself,” he sung out to 
Norman. “ I know him, and I can find him quicker 
than anybody. Besides, he may. not be at home, and 
then I’ll get over to Conway, somehow, and hunt up a 
doctor there. Tell my aunt where I’ve gone, please.” 

Presenting a very different aspect from that of the 
gay tally-ho which had dashed down the hill an hour 
before, the coach started off, the horses walking and 
the timber substitute for a hind wheel dragging 
heavily long the road. 

Norman watched them out of sight, and then turned 
his steps toward the house, where Hallie was lying 
on Anemone’s bed, trying to suppress the moans that 
would escape when the twinges of pain were unusually 
sharp. 

“ I declare,” said Miss Letitia, bustling about the 


48 


J\rAFV BLUE. 


kitchen, pulling down arnica and herbs from top 
shelves, and hurrying to and fro with the tea-kettle, 
“ it does seem’s if that driver ought to be put in jail. 
He might ’a’ known better than drive that way.’^ 

“ He said it was a ledge sticking up in the road,” 
suggested Norman, selecting a seat apparently out of 
the range of Miss Letitia’s orbit as she flew about the 
kitchen. 

Ledge!” she exclaimed sharply. sh’d think 
hwas! Everybody within twenty miles knows about 
that rock and reckons distance from it. Now, Jed, 
do keep out o' my way. You’re no use here. Go 
’n’ draw me a pail o’ water, an’ then tend to the 
cattle.” 

Jed grinned at Norman and withdrew, pail in hand. 
Presently the slow strokes of the uneven windlass 
were heard as the cool bucketful came dripping up 
from the depths of the well. 

“ Don’t look so worried,” said Hallie, trying to 
smile as Annie hung over her, fanning away the flies 
and looking a brown-eyed world of pity. “ It doesn’t 
hurt quite so bad now.” 

If the doctor ’d only come! ” said the little nurse. 
“ I hate to have you suffer so. What did you say 
your name was, please? ” she added timidly. 

Hallie Holmes. Hallie’s a funny name, isn’t it? ” 
“ Not as funny as mine,” returned the other, a dim- 
ple appearing in each cheek. 


A WRECK ON DRY LAND. 


49 


“ ' Annie ’ ? Why, that isn’t so very uncommon, 
is it? I know two or three Annies in St. Bo- 
tolph.” 

That isn’t my real name.” 

“What is it, then?” 

“ Anemone.” 

“Oh, how lovely! That dear little flower that 
comes in the spring. It’s just like you, tool” she 
added, giving Annie’s hand a little squeeze. “ I be- 
lieve we’re going to be real friends always, you 
know,” she continued. “ I like you ever so much al- 
ready, and your brother is splendid and strong. He 
carried me just like a — a ” 

“ Kitten! ” suggested Annie, smiling back affection- 
ately in her turn. “Yes, he’s just as strong! He 
catches me up and runs all over the house with me 
sometimes, when he says I’m contrary.” 

“ Contrary! I don’t believe you ever were in your 
life! How do you like my brother?” 

“ I’ve hardly seen him,” said Annie. “ He looks 
nice.” 

“ He h nice! And he’s going into the navy.” 

“ Why, so is Dave! ” cried the country girl. “ He’s 
going to try the examinations at the academy at 
Annapolis this very fall! ” 

“So is Norman! They’ll get acquainted and be 
great friends, just as we are.” 

At this point Aunt Letitia came bustling in, and 
4 


50 


NAVY BLUE. 


seeing a little flush in Hallie’s cheeks, divined that she 
was talking too much. 

“ Now, Annie,” said she in her brusque way, “ you 
must go right out into the kitchen or keep still if 
you’re going to stay in here. Miss Holmes is gettin’ 
feverish, and must just lay still without sayin’ another 
word.” 

The girls glanced mischievously at each other and 
subsided. The old clock in the corner of the “ best 
room ” close by ticked away dreamily, and in spite of 
her aching ankle, Hallie dropped into a half drowse, 
which was interrupted an hour later by the entrance 
of the doctor, a bluff, gray-bearded man with a rough 
voice and a touch as gentle as a woman’s. 

‘‘ Mustn’t be moved for a week at least,” he an- 
nounced gruffly after an examination of his patient’s 
injury. “ It’s a bad sprain, but nothing worse. A 
few days’ rest will set everything right. If she’s rest- 
less to-night, give her ten drops of this ” (leaving a 
small phial on the table). “ I’ll call in to-morrow 
forenoon.” And off he trudged, the roll of his buggy 
wheels a moment later telling of his departure. 

Miss Letitia seemed by no means discomposed by 
the prospect of a week’s visit from her unexpected 
guests, and set about preparing a lotion the doctor 
had prescribed, and put the biscuits into the oven for 
supper, quite as if nothing unusual had occurred. 

Hallie was too weak and feverish to realize or care 


A WRECK ON DRY LAND. 


51 


much what was before her. Norman, who had sent 
one brief message to his mother by a friend in the 
coaching party, now wrote another, which Dave 
promised to take to the telegraph office next morning, 
as the boys agreed it would only worry Mrs. Holmes 
to receive a despatch late at night, when she could 
do nothing for her daughter, being fifteen miles away 
at a large summer hotel. 

Annie was grieved that Hallie should suffer, but 
delighted that she was to see more of her, and that 
the two brothers should have an opportunity of get- 
ting acquainted before they met at Annapolis. 

Dusk fell, and a whip-poor-will alighting on the 
well-curb close beside the house, filled the air with 
his plaintive notes. 

With this sweet “ Whip-poor-l^f//.' Whip-poor- 
Willl ” in her ears, and the drowsy, comfortable mur- 
mur of voices from the kitchen, Hallie forgot her pain 
and the exciting events of the day, and was soon fast 
asleep. 


CHAPTER VII. 


FARM LIFE AND A YARN. 

Early the next forenoon Mrs. Holmes arrived at 
the Rexdale farm. Miss Letitia received her with 
due dignity and at once ushered her into Hallie’s 
room, unbending so far, on the way thither, as to 
remark briefly, “ She’s better.” 

The meeting between mother and children was a 
touching one, for Mrs. Holmes felt she had come ter- 
ribly near losing one or both. Hallie, however, was 
now refreshed by a good night’s rest and fairly on the 
road to recovery; while Norman’s football training 
had rendered him, as he said, “ bump-proof,” and 
barring the cut on his forehead and a scratch or two, 
he was quite himself. 

The old house was now well filled, the hostess hav- 
ing insisted on Mrs. Holmes staying with her daugh- 
ter until the latter should be able to leave. Dave ac- 
cordingly harnessed up and drove to the hotel, return- 
ing late in the afternoon with the lady’s trunk, filled 
by one of the maids with such articles from her rooms 
as were deemed necessary for herself, Norman, and 
Hallie during their enforced visit at the farm. 


FA/^M LIFE AND A YARN. 


53 


Acquaintance among the young people rapidly rip- 
ened into friendship, as Hallie had predicted. Norman 
proved that he was no white-fingered dandy by going 
into the field with Dave and working beside him with 
a vigor which atoned for his lack of skill. During the 
hours thus spent the two boys had a good many long 
and eager talks on the topic which filled the minds of 
both — the Naval Academy. 

“ The examination’s going to be awfully hard, I’m 
afraid,” said Dave anxiously during one of the noon 
rests. “ They say only about half the fellows that try 
get in.” 

‘‘That so?” rejoined Norman. “Then I’m sorry 
for the two chaps that must be dropped to balance us,” 
he added coolly. 

Dave looked at the Latin School boy with almost 
a touch of envy. 

“ It’s all very well for you to say that,” he slowly 
answered. “ You’ve had the best of city schooling 
and are ever so far ahead of me, though I’m a year 
older. You see, I’ve had to pick up my education a 
bit at a time. Sometimes there’s a good teacher at 
the district school and sometimes a poor one. I’ve 
had to walk three miles and a half each way, and a big 
storm would often keep me at home shovelling snow, 
breaking out road, and doing chores.” 

“ I know,” rejoined Norman. “ You’ve done splen- 
didly, old fellow, and what you have learned will stick. 


54 


NAFY BLUE. 


Now, rm all right in some of the more advanced 
studies, but the very places where you are strong are 
my weak points. Annie showed me that last com- 
position of yours ” 

“ Well, if I don’t talk to her! ” 

“ And it just made me feel small,” continued 
Holmes, laughing at the other’s discomfiture. “ Then 
geography always came hard to me, and I’ll warrant 
you’re as much at home in Polynesia as Coos County. 
I wonder what kind of questions they’ll ask, anyway.” 

“ Why, here you are. Didn’t you read this? ” asked 
Dave; and pulling a well-worn copy of the “ Regula- 
tions ” from his pocket, he proceeded to read aloud: 

“ ‘ Geography. — Candidates will be required to pass a satisfac- 
tory examination, written or oral, or both, in descriptive geography, 
particularly of our own country.’ ” 

‘‘Thank goodness for that!” said Norman with 
feeling. 

“ ‘ Questions will be given under the following heads : The defi- 
nitions of latitude and longitude ; the zones ; the grand divisions of 
the land and water ; the character of coast lines ; the direction and 
position of important mountain chains and the locality of the higher 
peaks ; the position and course of the principal rivers, their tribu- 
taries, and the bodies of water into which they flow ; the position 
of important seas, bays, gulfs, and arms of the sea ; the position of 
independent States, their boundaries and capital cities ; the position 
and direction of great peninsulas, and the situation of important and 
prominent capes, straits, sounds, channels, and the most important 


FA/^M LIFE AND A YARN. 


55 


canals [a groan from Norman] ; great lakes and inland seas ; position 
and political connection of important islands and colonial posses- 
sions ; localities of cities of historical, political, or commercial 
importance (attention is especially called to the rivers and bodies of 
water on which cities are situated) ; the course of a vessel in making 
a voyage between well-known seaports.’ ” 

“ Well,” said Norman as the other paused, “ there’s 
enough to floor the best regulated candidate half a 
dozen times over. ‘ Political connection of important 
islands! ’ I’m all right on Cuba and Hayti, but think 
of the rest of the West Indies, not to mention the 
East!” 

“Hold on; I’m not through yet. Here’s some 
more of the same sort,” laughed Dave. 

“ ‘ The candidate’s knowledge of the geography of the United 
States cannot be too full or specific on all the points referred to 
above. Accurate knowledge will also be required of the position of 
the country with reference to other States, and with reference to 
latitude and longitude ; of the boundaries and relative position of 
the States and Territories and of the name and position of their 
capitals, and of other important cities and towns.’” 

“ Well, all I’ve got to say is,” remarked Norman as 
Dave concluded the paragraph, “ I hope my remark- 
able proficiency in some other branch — I don’t ex- 
actly know which one — will soften the hearts of the 
board, so they’ll drop a tear on the geographical 
blunders I’m sure to make; several tears, to be per- 
fectly safe.” 


JVJVr BLUE. 


56 

“Dinner, boys!” called Anemone from the stile 
at the corner of the lot; and the conversation was cut 
short. 

“ They say the cadets are called to their meals by a 
bugler,” said Norman as they trudged homeward. 
“That’s one military signal that’ll be obeyed promptly, 
anyway! ” 

The girls, on their part, found plenty of subjects of 
mutual interest to occupy their busy young tongues 
and heads. Annie admired her guest immensely, and 
in the secrecy of her own bedroom tried to braid her 
hair into an approved St. Botolph “ pigtail,” but it 
was too abundant and curly to submit to such treat- 
ment, and the attempt had to be abandoned. 

“ I’ll do it up in a year or two,” said its owner 
apologetically as Hallie, in a gale of laughter, heard 
the story of the failure. The country girl seemed as 
absolutely unconscious of the beauty of those sunny, 
unfashionable, untamable curls as Hallie was indiffer- 
ent to her own glossy brown braid, the envy of her 
less favored schoolmates at home. 

The girls agreed that the worst of the Annapolis 
plan was the necessary absence of their brothers dur- 
ing the greater part of the year. Still -they could 
write to the academy, and they could correspond 
with each other — as they fervidly promised to do — 
regularly and frequently. 

One by one the long summer days glided by. Sun- 


FAJ^AI LIFE AND A YARN. 


57 


shine was followed by black clouds and storm, and 
they in their turn by blue skies. Hallie’s ankle grew 
steadily stronger, though the visit at the farm was pro- 
longed to ten days before it was thought best for her 
to be removed. 

It was on a bright August morning, just four weeks 
before examination day, when a comfortable carriage 
from the hotel came down the hill (carefully slowing 
up at the ledge) and halted before the Rexdale farm- 
house, where the group of visitors and hosts were 
already gathered on the neatly kept green. 

Mrs. Holmes clasped Miss Letitia’s hand, hardened 
by a lifetime of household work, and held it as if it 
were a royal palm that rested in hers. 

“ I can never forget your kindness! ’’ she said. “ Do 
come to St. Botolph some day, and let me make you 
‘at home,’ as you have done for me here! But I 
never can repay you ” 

“ Law,” broke in Miss Letitia abruptly, but with 
a suspicion of moisture in her keen gray eyes, “ ’twas 
nothing. I’m always glad to help a neighbor,” she 
added, unconsciously annotating the New Testament. 
“ As for goin’ to St. Botolph, there ain’t much chance 
o’ my ever leavin’ Granite. I was born here, and 
here I shall die, most likely, without ever goin’ away 
till then. But if Dave, here, should happen to be 
down your way, an’ you could take him for a 
night ” 


58 


NAVY BLUE. 


'' Our home shall be his whenever he shall come/^ 
rejoined Mrs. Holmes promptly and earnestly; “ his 
and dear little Anemone’s, as well as your own, Miss 
Letitia.” 

Norman gave Dave a hearty handshake and clap on 
the back, boy fashion. Boys say a great deal with 
their hands, as the deaf and dumb do with fingers. 
Each understood the other, of these two, without the 
spoken messages they were too shy to put into words. 

I think Annie and Hallie cried a little when they 
parted, after a clinging embrace, and renewed in- 
junctions and promises tO' “ write right off.” 

Good-by! Good-by! ” The carriage rolled away; 
old Jed, who had been secretly remembered in a sub- 
stantial way by the Holmes, first saluting and then 
waving his hat until they were out of sight. 

“ Sorry to have ’em go,” he remarked with more 
of the freedom of a down-East hand ” than the 
discipline of a man-of-war. 

“Whew!” he continued, “hot, ain’t it?” Then, 
seeing that no one else seemed disposed to talk, and 
taking advantage of the softened mood of his em- 
ployers, “ Reminds me o’ that ’ere July mornin’ in ’62 
when we fit the Arkansas” 

“ Well, well, Jed,” said Dave with an indulgent 
smile, “ let’s have the yarn before we go to work. Sit 
down on the door-stone and fire away.” 

“ I was sarvin’ on the Essex, in the crew of a six- 


FAJ^M LIFE AND A YARN. 


59 


inch forrard gun/’ began the old sailor, delighted with 
an opportunity to substitute story-telling for manual 
labor. “ The big ram was lyin’ moored under the 
guns o’ the Vicksburg batteries, and our fleet was up- 
river. Jest at daylight (’twas the twenty-second of 
July, onless I’m wrong) we up anchor an’ dropped 
down-stream. When we reached a p’int opposite the 
city the Essex steamed ahead and made for the 
Arkansas, which every man of us knew was a better 
armed ship than ourn, not to speak o’ the big batteries 
on shore coverin’ her. 

“ Cap’n Porter meant to ram her, but the rebs were 
smart an’ let go the bowline, so ’t she swung out into 
the stream, and our blow, strikin’ sort o’ glancin’, jest 
sent us hard an’ fast into a mud-bank. All we could 
do was to run out our guns and plump shot into the 
ram as fast as we could. We could see her crew run- 
nin’, an’ she didn’t try to fight us, but left that to the 
batteries, which opened fire on us as soon as we came 
in sight. 

Three heavy shot came in through the bow case- 
mates, killin’ one man, poor Joe Castles, jest at my 
side, and woundin’ three with splinters. It was still 
dark b’low decks, an’ I remember how the shells, as 
they bu’st outside, kept lightin’ us up while we worked 
our guns. 

Wall, Farragut, he concluded not to help us out, 
and Cap’n Porter had to ring to back her, though he 


6o 


JVAFV BLUE. 


hated to retreat. He couldn’t take the Arkansas an’ 
the city o’ Vicksburg all by himself, though I b’lieve 
he’d ’a’ tried ef the admiral had signalled him to 
do it. 

“ We backed off the bank an’ got away safely, 
leavin’ an eight-fut hole in the Arkansas, an’ dented 
all up ourselves from the battery guns. We arter- 
wards counted the marks of over thirty solid shot an’ 
shell, one eight-inch rifled shot goin’ nearly a foot 
into our bows, and a ten-inch shell leavin’ its mark 
jest below. The woodwork outside our casemates 
was knocked into kindlin’ wood. 

“ Jest a fortnight later we sunk that ’ar old ram, 
and in September bombarded Natchez till it sur- 
rendered. It wa’n’t long arterwards that we shelled 
the Port Hudson batteries while Farragut got past 
with the Hartford an’ Albatross. The rebs tried to 
blow us up with torpedoes close by thar an’ failed. 
Dave, ye’ll be glad to know that our next sarvice was 
to tow the disabled Monongahela down the river an’ 
so saved her, to be the cruisin’ ship o’ the Naval 
Academy, whar she’s stationed to-day.” 

Dave’s eyes glistened with ardor at the old salt’s 
story, and he rejoiced at the thought that, if success- 
ful at the examination, he should ere long tread the 
deck of one of that gallant fleet, the Mississippi Squad- 
ron, that did so much to decide the results of the great 
Rebellion. 



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LIFE AND A YARN. 


6l 


Norman Holmes, for his part, devoted several hours 
a day, even at the summer hotel, to the review of the 
studies in which he knew he was least proficient. The 
family remained in the mountains until near the close 
of August, then returned to their home in St. 
Botolph. 

Every evening Hallie got out her atlas and asked 
all the puzzling questions she could think of, “ with 
special attention to the rivers and bodies of water on 
which cities were situated.” The daily papers, with 
their shipping columns, were of great help in this par- 
ticular; the cable reports being taken each morning 
as a sort of examination paper, from which the 
foreign ports were to be hunted up on the map. 

Norman also spent considerable time on his mathe- 
matics, refreshing his memory of square root, calcula- 
tions of latitude and longitude, proportion, and the 
like. One or two friends had suggested a brief course 
of coaching for examination ” at an Annapolis 
institute which made such instruction a specialty; but 
Norman was confident that the Latin School fitting 
was equal to the emergency. How well this con- 
fidence was justified will be seen from the sequel. 

While Norman had been faithfully at work in the 
Latin School and during the summer, his friends had 
not been idle. 

His uncle Richard had lost no time in correspond- 
ing with his old college chum, the Member of Con- 


62 


ATAFY BLUE, 


gress from the St. Botolph district, setting forth 
Norman’s qualifications for a naval career and his 
own earnest desire that the boy might be allowed a 
trial. The application had been made in a fortunate 
time; for, although the appointment had already been 
given, the congressman learned, just before receiving 
the Chicago banker’s letter, that the favored lad was 
ill, and had been sent abroad by the family physician. 
The place was thus unexpectedly left vacant, and the 
appointment was at once transferred to Norman, who 
thereupon received the following notice, printed in 
script, from Washington. It should be premised 
that Mr. Wheatley, in his application, had stated that 
his nephew preferred to enter in the fall. 

“ Navy Department, Bureau of Navigation, 
“Washington, April 17, 189-. 

‘ ‘ Sir : 

“ You are authorized to report to the superintendent of the Naval 
Academy at Annapolis, Md., on the 2d of September, 189-, for 
examination as to your qualifications for appointment as a Naval 
Cadet in the U. S. Navy. 

“ If qualified, you will receive an appointment bearing the date of 
your passing the examination, and you will be allowed actual travel- 
ling expenses from your home to Annapolis. Your pay will com- 
mence on the date you enter the Academy. 

“ Please acknowledge, without delay, the receipt of this com- 
munication ; inform the Department whether it is your intention to 
present yourself for examination, and forward the required certificate 
from parent, or guardian, stating the place, year, and day of your 


FARM LIFE AND A YARN. 


63 


birth, and giving consent to your service in the navy. A blank 
form for this acknowledgment and certificate is herewith enclosed. 

“ This permit will be void should you not report on the date 
specified. Respectfully, 

“ R L , 

“ Chief of Bureau. 

“ Mr. Norman Holmes, 

“ St. Botolph, Mass. 

“ Note. — This is to be presented to the superintendent of the 
Academy.” 

The blanks referred to were both printed on a large, 
foolscap half-sheet, and when filled out read as 
follows: 

“St. Botolph, Mass., 
April 20, 189-. 

“ Sir: 

“ I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communi- 
cation of the 17th inst., giving me authority to report to the superin- 
tendent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., on the 2d of 
September next, for examination as to my qualification for appoint- 
ment as a cadet in the U. S. Navy, and to inform you of my inten- 
tion to report accordingly. 

“ Very respectfully, 

“ Your obedient servant, 

' “ Norman Holmes.” 

“ The action of my son in signing the above meets my approval, 
and should he pass the required examination and receive an appoint- 
ment as a Naval Cadet, I hereby give my consent to his acceptance 
thereof ; and I further hereby give him my full permission to sign 
articles binding himself to serve in the United States Navy eight 
years, including his term of probation at the Academy, unless sooner 


64 


NAVY BLUE. 


discharged. He was born at Newburyport, Mass., on the 13th day 
of November, 18 — . 

“ Mary S. Holmes, 

“ The Honorable the Secretary of the Navy, 

“ Washington, D. C.” 

When this paper had been signed and forwarded, 
Norman felt that he was almost a naval officer. To 
be sure, he dreaded examination, as every student does 
in school or college, but he had great faith in his 
ability to pass, nevertheless. He at once wrote to his 
uncle Richard, telling him what had been done, and 
thanking him heartily and affectionately for his share 
in obtaining the much sought-for appointment. Mr. 
Wheatley replied in a characteristic note, telling the 
lad that he fully counted on his passing the examina- 
tion creditably, and reminding him of the great 
responsibility he was assuming in stepping forward, 
one of the very few from all the millions of citizens 
of his country, to take his place among the commis- 
sioned defenders of her safety and honor in peace or 
in war. • 

The summer passed, as we have seen; September 
arrived at last, and from all over the land aspirants 
for a position in the navy came pouring into the 
sleepy, old-fashioned little town of Annapolis. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND ! 

Norman and Dave had arranged that the latter 
should come to St. Botolph a day or two before it 
was necessary to leave for Maryland, and that after a 
brief visit at the Holmes’ he should accompany Nor- 
man to Annapolis, where they could at least lend 
each other moral support at the dreaded examination. 
Of course no actual assistance or communication 
would be possible during the ordeal itself. 

It was late in the afternoon of the last day in 
August when the two boys stepped from the “ Short 
Line ” train upon the platform at Annapolis. Each 
had a pretty heavy travelling-bag, and they concluded 
to accept the invitation of one of the clamorous negro 
charioteers and ride to the Hotel Maryland, where 
they were to spend their time until the examination 
was over and the result announced. 

It was raining heavily, and Norman’s heart fell as 
he looked out through the blurred window of the 
tumble-down old carryall. The red clay, the muddy 
streets, the elms dropping their shrivelled leaves, the 
steady downpour of the storm — all combined to throw 
5 


66 


NA VY BLUE, 


a gloom over his prospects. Dave saw this, and had, 
doubtless, a little of the same feeling, but he did his 
best to cheer up his comrade. 

“ Look at the trunk of that tree, all covered with 
ivy! ” he cried. “And see. Norm, there are roses in 
bloom in a front yard. Wonder what old church that 
is!^’ 

“ Everything is old, and everything is muddy, and 
everything is — it’s the dreariest old place I ever was 
in! ” exclaimed Norman, throwing himself back on 
the seat. 

“ Oh, that’s just because it rains and you’re a bit 
homesick, as I am,” said Dave cheerily. “ Don’t 
mind. Norm, ’twill all look different to-morrow. Did 
you ever see so many little wet darkies?” 

Norman could not resist his companion’s good- 
nature, and had already begun to feel a little more like 
himself when they drove up to the hotel door, and, 
dismissing the sable young driver, entered the office of 
the large, rambling, old-fashioned but comfortable 
house. 

A few minutes later they were in their room, a big 
square one looking out on two streets. Dave skir- 
mished round and procured some wood, with which 
he soon had a fire crackling merrily in the open fire- 
place and throwing a warm and cheerful glow over 
their surroundings. 

“ Not so bad, after all! ” he exclaimed-as he drew 


MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND/” 

back from the hearth, his honest face shining with 
firelight and good cheer. 

“You’re a trump, Dave!” exclaimed Norman 
heartily, giving the other a thump. “ I’d like to see 
anybody keep blue long when you’re round!” 

“ Don’t say anything against blue,” laughed Dave, 
holding his hands out to the blaze. “ I’m not think- 
ing of Yale, but ‘ navy blue ’ is our color for the next 
eight years ” 

“ If we get in,” added Norman lugubriously. 

“ ‘ In the bright lexicon of youth 
There’s no such word as fail,’ 


quoted Dave. 

“ ‘ But screw your courage to the striking point 
And we’ll no/ fail ! ’ 

See Shak — no, not Shakspeare, but some other 
fellow who knew what he was talking about. Say, 
Norm, let’s see what’s the prospect for supper or 
dinner or whatever they have at night in these be- 
nighted tropics.” 

The supper was a good one; the evening passed 
with no other remarkable incident than the advent, 
in the writing-room, of a large green parrot who 
tried to drink up the ink with which Norman was 
writing home; the beds, though not luxurious, were 
clean and comfortable, and a fine night’s sleep, such 


68 


I^^AFV BLUE. 


as active boys with good health and a good conscience 
enjoy, followed the long day of travel. 

Next morning, Sunday, the lads were awakened 
by the bright sunshine pouring in at their windows. 
It was a beautiful autumn day after the storm, and in 
renewed good spirits the two visitors started out after 
breakfast to view the town for an hour or two be- 
fore going to church. They saw a good many 
other young men of about their own age, whom 
they guessed to be fellow-candidates for academic 
honors. 

They found the quaint old town full of interest: the 
ancient houses, the capitol on its little hill, the aged 
trees, the hospitable-looking homes with their thrifty 
little gardens, the throngs of colored people, large 
and small, in the narrow, ill-paved streets — all were 
new tO' their Northern eyes. 

Saving the exploration of the Naval Academy 
grounds for afternoon, they at length entered a church 
for the morning service, and were no sooner comfort- 
ably seated than their attention was attracted by a 
group of young men in natty dark-blue uniforms, 
who marched in like a military squad and took places 
near their own. 

Cadets! ” whispered Dave, nudging Norman. 

But Norman needed no nudging. His eyes were 
fastened on one of the late-comers, who presently 
turned, and looking him full in the face, gave a cool 


^'MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND r' 


69 


and supercilious nod. It was no other than the 
redoubtable Rollins, who must have entered in May 
and was now a full-fledged cadet. 

“ He’s ahead of me this time,” said Norman to him- 
self, “ but whether he can stay ahead remains to be 
seen.” 

He was far from pleased with the prospect of having 
his old-time rival for a classmate, but the very fact 
stirred him to new resolves. He must pass that 
examination now! 

The service over, our two Northerners left the 
building and passed near the group of cadets, who 
were forming to march back to their quarters. 

“Hulloa!” growled Rollins in a rough, sneering 
tone. “ Better not try it to-morrow, but run home 
to your mammal ” 

The tone as well as the language was insulting, and 
Norman longed to call the blue-jacketed young 
“ plebe ” to account for it; but Dave linked his arm 
through his own and drew him away. 

“I don’t know who that fellow is,” he said, “but 
he evidently knows you and wants to get you into 
trouble. We’ll attend to him later.” 

“ It’s that Pete Rollins I told you about,” said Nor- 
man ruefully, his cheeks still hot. “ I’m sorry he’s in 
the academy. Lots of the High School fellows are 
tiptop, and good friends of mine. It’s queer that the 
only one I don’t like should be here. I suppose — if 


70 


NAVY BLUE. 


we get in — we shall have to meet him every day for 
the next six years! ” 

“That don't follow! ” laughed Dave as they saun- 
tered down the street arm in arm. “ Cases have been 
known where fellows didn’t complete the course after 
they’d once entered!” 

“ He’s a good scholar,” said Norman, shaking his 
head. “ He won’t drop. Didn’t he look glum when 
he saw me in church! ” 

. “ He did that! Perhaps he’s running for honors in 
football, and thinks you may beat him out of the team.” 

It may be added that subsequent developments 
proved this surmise to be true. Rollins was trying to 
“ hit ” the class football eleven, and was chagrined at 
the appearance of so formidable a rival as the hero 
of the great hundred-yard run, the fame of which 
(thanks to Dr. Paul Dashiel, who was in charge of 
football at the academy, and was alive to every note- 
worthy athletic event in college and interscholastic 
athletics) had reached even the banks of the Severn. 

In the afternoon the two young gentlemen from 
New England started forth again from the “ Mary- 
land,” this time directing their steps with some eager- 
ness towards the grounds of the institution with which 
they hoped soon to identify themselves. 

Walking over the capitol hill, they pursued their 
way through Maryland Avenue toward the river until 
they reached the academy gate. Here they were 


‘ ‘ MAR YLANB, M Y MA R YLAND ! 


71 


confronted by the United States Government in the 
shape of a uniformed and armed marine, who, how- 
ever, barely glanced toward them as they passed the 
guard-house and entered the well-kept precincts be- 
yond. On their left and right were rows of neat brick 
buildings, which they guessed, from plans they had 
already consulted, were “ Officers and Professors’ 
Quarters.” At right angles with this long row, and 
extending nearly across the narrower northwestern 
end of the enclosure, was a large building with a cen- 
tral tower and a rather imposing entrance, this being 
the “ upper quarters,” or principal dormitory of the 
cadets, some of whom could be seen passing in and 
out as the two lads surveyed with curiosity their 
future home. These cadets could be almost instantly 
distinguished from young civilians, not merely by 
their uniforms, but by their erect bearing and their 
gait, which had nothing of the traditional salt-water 
roll ” in it, but rather was military in its precision, 
even when they were off duty and merely crossing 
the grounds singly or in groups. At present most of 
the men, it should be said, were absent on leave. 

The newcomers could not but be delighted with the 
appearance of the central portion of the academy 
grounds, carpeted with green, closely trimmed turf, 
crossed by tidy paths, and shaded by elms, through 
whose golden-brown autumnal foliage the sunbeams 
flickered downward upon the turf. This shaded lawn 


72 


NAVY BLUE. 


was about five hundred feet long by two hundred 
broad; it was enclosed on two sides, as we have 
stated; the remaining flank and end being irregularly 
bounded by smaller academy buildings which serve 
for educational purposes and the homes of the highest 
officials, including the superintendent. 

Outside the inner enclosure and behind these build- 
ings was a large oval, evidently devoted to athletics; 
and beyond this the blue waters of the Severn, 
dimpling in the sunshine and gentle breeze of the 
September afternoon, and stretching away to the 
wooded Maryland shore beyond, where the marble 
monuments of the National Cemetery gleamed among 
the foliage. 

Following the long paved walk down past the Sea- 
manship and other buildings, they reached a queer- 
looking circular stone structure, which they recognized 
at once as old Fort Severn, now crowned with a 
gymnasium. 

Rexdale did not know the history of the aged forti- 
fication, but Norman, who had studied it up, informed 
him that the fort was built in 1809; it was turned over 
to the academy in 1845, from that time until the 
Civil War was used by the cadets for gunnery practice. 

Directly after the war (during which the academy 
was temporarily established at Newport, R. I.) the 
fort, now partly remodelled, was still used for “ great- 
gun exercise ’’ in Admiral Porter’s administration, but 





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MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND J 


73 


since that period the ordnance drills have been held 
on the Santee and in the open field; while a modern 
building of wood, surmounting the old fort, has served 
for a gymnasium and dance-hall. 

Beyond the gymnasium, on the outmost point, were 
boat-houses and barracks. At the wharf lay the old 
Santee, now used at times for cadet quarters, for drills, 
and for the detention of unruly cadets under “ disci- 
pline.^' 

For hours the boys wandered about the fascinating 
grounds, surveying the buildings and boats, taking 
note of the manners of the cadets, and observing their 
jolly ways, but the strict respectfulness of their salutes 
on meeting superior officers, and talking eagerly of 
the days to come. 

Jo his relief, Norman saw nothing of Rollins; from 
the other members of the academy he received no un- 
pleasant glances or words, but little notice being paid 
to the strangers by the dignified young gentlemen in 
uniform. 

A little weary from their day’s tramp and full of 
eagerness to begin the morrow’s battle, the boys re- 
turned to the hotel, where they spent the evening 
with some of the other guests around the piano, sing- 
ing sacred and patriotic songs, the last of which rang 
in their ears as they climbed the winding stairs and 
mingled in their dreams that night — 

“ Maryland — My Maryland ! ” 


CHAPTER IX. 


THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION. 

“All hands on deck! Lay aloft to furl the main- 
royal jibboom! Clew up foretop-mast halliards! Port 
your helm!’^ shouted Dave Rexdale as he sprang 
out of bed on the morning of September third. 

“ Wha — what’s up! ” yawned Norman. 

“I am!” said his room-mate, dancing into his 
clothes like Scrooge on Christmas Day. “ Wake up, 
old fellow! It’s a great day for the country! ” 

Norman leaped out onto the floor and followed 
Dave’s example. 

“ Say, Dave, look at the sun! A good omen, isn’t 
it?” 

“ Of course ’tis! We’re going to rout that Board of 
Examiners, horse, foot, and dragoon.” 

“ What’s the square root of forty-nine thousand and 
fourteen, multiplied by half the radius of latitude 
sixty-two north ” 

“ Oh, let up ! ” spluttered Dave at the wash-bowl. 
“ I don’t know latitude from the binomial theorem 
now, and you’ll mix me all up — whew! that cold water 
feels good! ” 

In high spirits the boys disposed of a “ substantial 


THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION 


75 


breakfast,” as Dave reminded Norman was usually the 
habit of prisoners before execution, and joined the 
current of young fellows setting steadily toward the 
academy gates. They made one or two new ac- 
quaintances on the way over, including a stout, jolly- 
looking lad who hailed from the western part of Ohio 
and who gave his name as Harry Saunders; and a 
little chap who was fairly pale with nervous appre- 
hension, but pluckily prepared to face the music with 
the rest. He introduced himself as G. Tickerson, of 
Philadelphia, and set the boys wondering what “ G.” 
stood for. 

“ If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your 
height? ” inquired Saunders, looking down on the 
little fellow as a particularly large and good-natured 
St. Bernard might upon a King Charles. 

“ Five feet and half an inch,” said little Tickerson, 
smiling back at his big comrade. 

“Pretty valuable half inch that!” commented 
Saunders with a laugh. “ And I’ll warrant it’s on the 
brain-end of you, too.” 

“ I don’t know,” said “ G.” rather faintly. “ I’m 
awfully afraid of that examination. I didn’t sleep 
worth a cent last night.” 

“ Just remember,” said Norman consolingly, “ that 
the department really wants to get every good fellow 
in they possibly can. And as you are an especially 
good fellow ” 


76 


NAFY BLUE, 


Tickerson laughed at that, which was just what 
Norman wanted. By this time the party had reached 
the guard-house, and were directed to upper quarters, 
in front of which a number of candidates had already 
assembled, busily canvassing their chances of suc- 
cess. 

“ You’re all right, G. Tickerson,” said Saunders 
heartily as they joined the group. It’s the physical 
examination that will floor me,” continued the big, 
healthy-looking boy, drawing a comically long face. 
“ What’s cube root compared with a tape measure 
and a cardiograph, that they measure your emotions 
with? ” 

Oh, my heart’s all right,” laughed the other. 
“And cube root isn’t my weak point, either.” 

“ It’s mine, then,” put in Dave. “ I know flag-root 
and rutabagas all right, but I haven’t any use for 
cubes! ” 

“ Candidates will proceed through the corridors to 
the mess-hall in an orderly manner,” commanded a 
crisp voice that smacked of the quarterdeck. 

Proceed they did, and five minutes later were 
ranged in long rows, seated at tables in the large 
mess-hall or dining-room, deep in their tasks. It may 
interest some lad with naval aspirations to know what 
sort of questions were asked in the course of this two- 
days’ ordeal. 

Geography we have heard discussed on the Rexdale 


THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION. 


77 


farm. The questions were few in number, and 
were fair ones. There were no catchy queries, as 
“ On what gulf is Pekin situated? ” or “ What is the 
capital of Patagonia? ’’ Like most of the other ques- 
tions in the examination, they evidently were intended 
to ascertain in a general way the degree of knowledge 
as to the particular subject at hand possessed by the 
candidate, not to trip him up or let him drop into 
some insidious pitfall. 

The examination in spelling consisted in writing 
from dictation the first two paragraphs of the first 
chapter of “ The Fortunes of Nigel.” Norman, in 
common with several others, spelled “ prejudices ” 
with a superfluous d,” but Dave, who had spelled 
down ” many a class at the Granite school, did not 
miss a word, either in this exercise or in any of his 
neatly written answers, all of which were considered 
in deciding the spelling test. 

In arithmetic, questions were given in writing 
whole, decimal, and mixed numbers; in the elementary 
branches of simple computation; in definitions of 
various arithmetical terms; in fractions, ratio, and pro- 
portion. Percentage, interest, and discount also re- 
ceived passing attention, and proved fatal stumbling- 
blocks to more than one candidate. To Dave’s in- 
finite relief, only square root questions happened to 
be asked, the cube having formed a part of the May 
papers four months before. 


78 


NAVY BLUE. 


The examination in algebra was elementary in char- 
acter, and was limited to questions and problems upon 
the fundamental rules, factoring, algebraic fractions, 
and simple equations of one or more unknown quan- 
tities. This, too, proved far less formidable than 
Dave had feared, though he just escaped leaving the 
last problem unsolved. 

Grammar was easy. After various requests for 
definitions and exercises in parsing, the following 
sentences were given the candidates to correct: 

“ I. Describe the sources from which our knowledge 
of these events are derived. 2. How sweetly their 
voices sound! 3. Try and do as you was told! 4. 
I should have liked to have been there and seen it. 
5. There’s a sweet little cherubim sits up aloft to keep 
watch for the life of poor Jack! 6. Our friends are 
coming down the road, but that is not they.” 

The last sentence was a puzzler, one of the few 
introduced to catch ” the young writers. Two out 
of three changed the last word to them.” 

Lastly came history. To the surprise of the candi- 
dates, there were only two questions to be answered 
in writing: i. State the leading events of the colonial 
wars, and give the results of each war. 2. Give an 
account of the formation and adoption of the Consti- 
tution.” Then followed a searching oral examination, 
which, severe though it was, afforded relief from the 
tension of long-continued and constant application. 


THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION 


79 


The questions covered a wide scope, but were con- 
fined to the history of the United States, with the 
names and general limits of the original colonies; the 
causes of the Revolution, including the Navigation 
Acts, the Stamp Act, and the Writs of Assistance; the 
principal battles in the wars of the United States; the 
names of the Presidents in order, and the leading 
events in each administration. 

Early on the afternoon of the second day Norman 
heard, with a long sigh of relief, the announcement 
that the examination was closed. Stiffly and wearily 
the candidates rose from their seats and filed out of 
the mess-hall, where, with the exception of a couple 
of hours each noon, they had spent two days long to 
be remembered. 

“ If anybody wants a concise compendium of knowl- 
edge,” said Saunders as the original quartette that 
had entered so blithely the morning before filed out of 
upper quarters, “ he’d better get hold of my examina- 
tion papers and print them for posterity. I’ve written 
down everything I know and considerable that I 
don’t.” 

“ Ah-h-h — ” yawned Dave, stretching his long 
arms. “ I’m as tired as if I’d been pitching hay since 
sunrise.” 

Say, Holmes, what did you make x equal in that 
third problem? ” inquired Tickerson, taking long 
strides to keep step with his tall comrades. 


8o 


JVAFV BLUE. 


Let me see — six and thirteen hundredths, I be- 
lieve. It was a decimal with two places.” 

“ That’s what I got,” put in Dave, so it must be 
right.” 

“ What Rexdale made it, goes! ” laughed the jolly 
Saunders. “ My answer was twenty-eight and a 
string of decimals, but that don’t count.” 

I came out the same as Holmes,” said Tickerson. 

With three alike, I’m afraid you missed it that time.” 

Oh, well, I tried to get it wrong,” chuckled the 
good-natured candidate. “ I was afraid if I let my- 
self out they might run me in for instructor in mathe- 
matics, and ’twould be awkward pulling you fellows 
up when you didn’t know your lessons, you see.” 

“ Narrow escape! ” from Norman. 

The whole body of candidates were now ordered to 
the Naval Academy Hospital, where, one by one, they 
were subjected for fifteen or twenty minutes to a most 
rigid physical examination by a board of medical 
officers of the navy. Vision, color-blindness, organic 
or hereditary disease, habits — all were subjects of 
searching inquiry. Measurements were taken of 
height and girth, which had to be within certain limits 
considered normal for boys of their age. 

Tickerson’s case evidently gave rise to discussion. 
He was measured two or three times in his stockings, 
weighed, and sharply questioned as to his general 
health. 


THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION, 


8l 


Like all dreaded emergencies, the examination was 
over at last, and the candidates wearily wended their 
way through the gates. 

“ I feel as if Fd been keel-hauled,” remarked one. 

“ I don’t know what that is, old salt,” said his neigh- 
bor, “ but I feel as if Fd been knot-holed.” 

The marine at the gates looked stolidly at the little 
groups of boys passing out. 

Who can tell what a baby thinks? ’ ” sang Harry 
Saunders, “ or an orderly? ” he added, glancing over 
his shoulder at the imperturbable representative of 
Uncle Sam. 

The boys voted to have a grand supper at the 
“ Maryland ” to celebrate the occasion, the New Eng- 
landers inviting the two others, who were quartered 
elsewhere in the city. 

“ Yes,” said Tickerson, gleefully, “ it’s a good plan 
to celebrate now while we can. We’ll be like the 
Irishman who laughed at the bull before he was tossed 
over the wall. ^ Bedad,’ says he, ‘ I’m glad I had me 
laugh first! ’ ” 

The hotel did its best to provide a royal banquet 
that night for its young guests. Norman had pri- 
vately told Dave that it was “ his treat,” and had 
insisted on having the expense of the whole supper 
charged on his own bill, in spite of the other’s protest. 

The oysters from the neighboring shores were 

delicious, the meats savory, the dessert delectable, to 
6 


82 


NAVY BLUE. 


the hungry boys, whose laughter and merry chat at 
the table, though not loud enough to disturb any one, 
attracted the attention of all the regular boarders. 

A short walk about town in the early evening re- 
freshed them, and returning to the hotel, they obtained 
permission to use the piano. Tickerson now came 
out grandly, for he proved to be a fine musician, and 
played one patriotic piece after another, accompany- 
ing his comrades as they sang “ Star Spangled Ban- 
ner,” My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” Hail Columbia,” 
and many others. 

The hotel guests dropped in one by one, and lis- 
tened with pleasure to the fresh young voices. At 
length, as there was a pause in the music, a very 
pretty, dark-eyed girl stepped forward and asked with 
a smile if they would sing Dixie.” Tickerson struck 
into the opening bars at once, and the young lady 
herself led the singing with a clear, sweet soprano, 
the rest joining in the chorus with a will. 

The evening closed, naturally, with mutual introduc- 
tions and a pleasant talk all round. Grace Lee, of the 
dark eyes and hair, was from Charleston, it seemed, 
and was spending the winter in Annapolis with her 
mother, to whom the boys were duly presented. Mrs. 
Lee met them with true Southern cordiality, and said 
she hoped to see them often during the coming winter. 
She was only temporarily at the hotel, and would soon 
occupy a house for the season in a neighboring street. 


THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION. 


83 


Tickerson, who had been eagerly “ talking music ” 
with Miss Lee at the piano, looked up at this, and met 
Harry Saunders’ round eyes. 

“ We — WQ are not sure ” he stammered, blush- 

ing. 

“ Oh,” said his pretty companion, with spirit, 
“ of co’se you’ll be in the academy. I want to try a 
new piece with you that everybody is singing at 
home.” 

“ That settles it,” said Saunders aside, nudging 
Dave with his elbow. “ G. Tickerson’s got to get in 
now. You’ll see him trying to bribe the examiners 
to-morrow ! ” 

Altogether it was a jolly time, and the boys forgot 
both weariness and anxiety long before the hands of 
the clock told them it was time for the party to 
break up. 

‘‘Good-night! Good-night! Good luck to- 
morrow ! ” 


CHAPTER X. 


CADETS AT LAST. 

Early after breakfast the next morning our two 
New Englanders hurried over to the academy. There 
was the list, posted on the door of th^e mess-hall, pro- 
claiming the result of the examination. 

With beating hearts they pressed into the outer 
circle of the dozen or more anxious candidates scan- 
ning the report. 

A moment later a light came into Norman’s face, 
and he grasped Dave’s hand in the crowd. 

Safe at last! ” he whispered, his voice trembling. 

We’ve both passed, old fellow! ” 

The farmer boy squeezed the other’s hand in silence 
till they were out of the building. Then they found, 
their tongues, and talked eagerly of the examination, 
and the success which they could hardly yet realize. 

‘‘ Tickerson’s in,” said Dave. “ I knew he was all 
right in his studies, and, as Saunders said, that half 
inch saved him in the physical.” 

Poor Saunders! Too bad he failed.” 

Well, he has another chance to-day and to- 
morrow to try it over again. I do hope he’ll brace 


CADETS AT LAST. 


85 

Up and pass.” (It may be added that he did pass on 
the secondary examination, though by a narrow mar- 
gin, and so obtained full standing in his class.) 

The lads found that they had time to run back to 
the hotel before reporting at the superintendent’s 
office, and soon were shaking hands with their new 
friends at the “ Maryland.” 

Of course they were duly and heartily congratulated 
by Mrs. Lee and the younger lady who had shared in 
their suspense. 

“ I reckon you’re cadets now,” she said, her eyes 
dancing, “ and you’ll be ver’ dignified. Perhaps 
you won’t come to see ma and me when we’re ‘ at 
home ’ ! ” 

Indeed we will, if you’ll keep up the invitation,” 
they chorused. We didn’t dare to accept until we 
knew about these things, did we, G.? ” added Dave; 
and he whacked the other playfully over the head 
with the official document that meant so much to 
him. 

“ I guess we’ll go outdoors and effervesce a little,” 
laughed Norman. “ There isn’t room in here.” 

Here comes poor Phillips,” said Rexdale, lower- 
ing his voice as they passed up the street, drinking 
in the sweet air and sunshine, that seemed a part of the 
good news. “ He failed and feels awfully about it. 
Going home on the nine-forty this morning.” 

They nodded to the lad, who looked so pale and for- 


86 


NAVY BLUE, 


lorn that their hearts went out to him; but they passed 
without speaking. 

Others they met, some shouting and laughing in 
high spirits, some hurrying toward the railroad sta- 
tion, portmanteau in hand, with downcast faces. One 
young fellow sobbed outright as he stopped and told 
them of his rejection. He had been one of the most 
carelessly confident at the examination. 

It’ll just kill my father,” he said. He was sure 
I’d get in, and was proud of my standing in school 
and my going into the navy.” 

“ Oh, don’t worry so,” said Norman gently. “ You 
can get the Board of Examiners to let you have 
another chance next May. You’re one of the young- 
est of us, and can afford to wait. It’s only eight or 
nine months.” 

Dobson (that was his name) went away rubbing 
his eyes on his coat-sleeve, but feeling a little com- 
forted by Norman’s kindly words; and in fact he did 
succeed in obtaining another trial, and entered the 
next year’s class, as we shall see. Lucky for him it 
was, too, that his friends above him remembered and 
stood by him in his “ plebe ” days! 

At the hour named in the notification, the young 
men presented themselves at the superintendent’s 
office, and there each filed his oath of allegiance to the 
United States (previously administered by a notary 
public), and received his formal appointment as naval 


CADETS AT LAST. 


87 


cadet, having already signed articles binding himself 
to serve in the United States navy eight years, unless 
sooner discharged. 

The newly appointed cadets were then shown their 
quarters, some on board the Santee, and some in the 
upper story of the large building where they had been 
examined. Two cadets were told off to each room, 
and they were allowed to express individual prefer- 
ences, where they existed, as to their chums. In this 
way Holmes and Rexdale roomed together.* 

The cadets were now directed to the storehouse, 
where the keeper served out to each most of the 
following articles (those marked * not being required 
to conform to a standard pattern, might be brought 
from home, but, said the rules, “ all other articles 
must be supplied by the storekeeper ”). 

They were measured for their blue uniforms, only 
the white working suits being furnished ready-made. 


One dress jacket. . . 

One blouse 

Two pairs trousers. 
Three working suits 

One overcoat 

One rubber coat. . . 
One rubber hat. . . . 


$19.50 

II-7S 

21.00 

2.85 

22.50 

4.00 

.60 


* Since 1896 the new fourth class, immediately upon entering the 
academy in May and September, have been quartered on the Santee, 
remaining there until the term begins, October ist. 


88 


NAVY BLUE. 


Two pairs of regulation leggings $ 1.50 

Two parade caps 5-90 

One knit cap 68 

One mug 13 

One soap box 63 

One laundry book .25 

One pair of blankets 2.50 

Two pairs of high shoes 8.50 

One pair of overshoes 72 

Eight white shirts 4.40 

Twelve linen collars 1.50 

Eight pairs of cuffs 1.76 

* Eight pairs of socks 2.00 

* Eight towels 2.00 

* Shaving outfit 1.65 

* Four pairs drawers (winter) 5.00 

h Four pairs drawers (summer) 3.00 

* Four undershirts (winter) 5.00 

h Four undershirts (summer) 3.00 

One hand glass 36 

Four woollen shirts 7.40 

One sweater 2.38 

Three white hats 1.20 

One reefer 9.00 

One jackknife 75 

Six sheets 3.45 

Hammock clews 50 

One pair of bathing trunks 20 

Three pairs white thread gloves 54 

Two black silk neckties 46 

Two clothes bags 42 

One hammock mattress 3.00 


CADETS AT LAST. 89 

o One requisition book $ .30 

a One pass-book 30 

a Stencil, ink, and brush 48 

a One bottle of indelible ink 18 

a One wash-basin and pitcher 90 

a One pair gymnasium slippers 1.12 

* One whisk 15 

* One coarse comb 21 

* One cake of soap 10 

One hairbrush 55 

* Stationery 50 

* Twelve white handkerchiefs 2.40 

* One pair of suspenders 40 

* Four suits pajamas 6.00 

* One toothbrush 20 

* Thread and needles 19 

* Blacking brush and blacking 55 

* Nailbrush 30 

Six pillowcases 1.50 

One black silk neckerchief 60 

Name-plate 30 

Two white blouses 4.00 

a Two bedspreads 2.20 

a Two pairs of drill gloves i.oo 

a One slop jar 95 

a Two spatter cloths 80 

One hair pillow 80 

One mirror i.io 

a One rug i.oo 

a One hair mattress 5*25 

a One broom 29 

Total $196.20 


90 


JVAFV BLUE. 


‘‘ Articles marked a,” the regulations added, will 
not be taken on board the practice ship. Of the arti- 
cles marked h, cadets entering in September must 
have four each.’' 

The necessary $196.20, together with $20 for text- 
books, was deposited with the pay officer by each 
cadet, and in due time the Sep. Plebes ” appeared 
on the parade ground and in the recitation-rooms in 
all the glory of blue uniforms, like their classmates 
who had entered in May. 

About one hundred in number (though destined, 
alas, to dwindle sadly before graduation day!), they 
soon became acquainted with one another’s names 
and peculiarities; like sought like, cliques began to 
form, nicknames sprang up like weeds in newly 
ploughed ground; in short, the regular life of the 
Naval Academy cadet began- its course for the new- 
comers as it had for their predecessors during every 
one of the last fifty years. 

Once and for all, while we are dealing with statis- 
tics it will do no harm to give the list of their studies 
during that first year at the academy. The tables may 
seem dry to some, but they show more clearly than 
can any verbose description or mere chance reference 
the regime on which the daily life and thought o'" the 
men was conducted. 

Of the daily drills and physical exercises, outdoors 
and in, we shall speak later; but it is time to return 


CADETS AT LAST. 


91 


to the special trials that beset the path of Norman 
Holmes and his immediate friends. 


FIRST TERM. 


Department. 

Number of recita- 
tions a week. 

Number of months. 

Subjects. 

References 

AND 

Text-books. 

Mathematics.. 

4 

4 

Algebra : Fundamental op- 
erations; reduction and con- 
version of fractional and 
surd quantities ; reduction 
and solution of equations of 
the first and second degrees; 
inequalities ; involution and 
evolution ; arithmetical, 
geometrical, and harmoni- 
cal progression. 

Hall and Knight’s Ele- 
mentary Algebra. 
Hall and Knight’s 
Higher Algebra. 
Todhunter’s Algebra. 


2 

4 

Geometry : Geometry of the 
straight line, of the circle, 
and of the plane ; theory of 
proportion ; properties of 
similar figures. 

Chauvenet’s Geometry 

English 

2 

4 

English : The structure and 

Whitney’s Essentials of 




historical development of 
the English language ; syn- 
tax ; analysis of sentences ; 
punctuation and capitals ; 
exercises in the composition 
of letters. 

English Grammar. 
Hart^ Punctuation. 
Buehler’s Practical Ex- 
ercises in English. 
Webster’s Dictionary. 


3 

4 

History : Outlines of history, 
especially the history of 
Greece and Rome, and of 
the states of western Eu- 
rope; historical geography ; 
important points in naval 
history, by notes. 

Swinton’s Outlines of 
the World’s History. 
Labberton’s Historical 
Atlas. 

Languages .... 

5 

4 

French : “ Natural Method.” 

Bercy’s Le fran9ais 
pratique. 

Marion’s Le i/erbeen 
quatre tableaux. 
Dictionnaire de poche. 
— Bellow’s. 


92 


NAVY BLUE. 


SECOND TERM. 


Department. 

Number of recita- 
tions a week 

Number of months. 

Subjects. 

References 

AND 

Text-books. 

Mathematics.. 

3 

4 

• 

Algebra: Course for first term 
continued. 

Development of algebraic 
functions by means of inde- 
terminate coefficients and 
the binomial theorem ; per- 
mutations and combina- 
tions; theory of probability; 
summation of series ; con- 
tinued fractions ; loga- 
rithms ; exponential equa- 
tions ; theory of equations, 
including the solution of 
numerical equations ; deter- 
minants. 

Hall and Knight’s 
Higher Algebra. 
Bowditch’s Useful 
Tables. 


2 

4 

Geometry : Course for first 
term continued. 

Spherical geometry ; the cone 
and the cylinder ; mensura- 
tion of rectilinear figures, 
and of the sphere, cone, and 
cylinder ; application of al- 
gebra to determinate geom- 
etry. 

Chauvenet’s Geometry 

English 

2 

4 

English : Words, sentences, 
and paragraphs ; exercises 
in the composition of letters 
and telegrams. Themes. 

A. S. Hill’s Founda- 
tions of Rhetoric. 
Buehler’s Practical Ex- 
ercises in English. 
Webster’s Dictionary. 


3 

4 

History: Progress of colonial 
development in America, 
and thehistoryof theUnited 
States ; important points in 
the naval history of the 
United States by notes or 
lectures. 

Eliot’s History of the 
United States. 
Mitchell’s Atlas. 

Languages .... 

5^ 

4 

French: “Natural Method.” 

Spanish: “Natural Method.” 
(Given as an advanced 
course.) 

Percy’s Le fran5ais 
pratique (continued). 

Percy’s Lectures fa- 
ciles pour I’^tude du 
fran9ais avec notes 
grammaticales et ex- 
plicatives. 

Worman’s El primer y 
el segundo libro de 
espanol segun el m^- 
toda natural. 


CHAPTER XL 


RUMORS OF WAR. 

“ Turn out, Rexdale! ” said Holmes, springing from 
his bed one fine October morning and shaking his 
room-mate vigorously by the shoulder. “ It’s four 
minutes after gun-fire, and Robertson will be here 
inside of a hundred seconds. That’s right, my hearty! 
Over goes your mattress ! ” 

The sleepy cadet had barely time to capsize his 
mattress, “ lay the bedclothes neatly across the foot of 
the bed,” as the regulations (known throughout the 
academy, without any sacrilegious intent, as the 
“ plebe’s Bible ”) direct, and jump into his garments, 
when Robertson, the “ cadet in charge ” of that floor, 
put his head in at the door. Norman, meanwhile, had 
thrown open the two windows, one of which looked 
upon the grounds and one upon the blue waters of 
the Severn. 

The young officer glanced at windows and beds, 
and with a short nod withdrew to visit the adjoining 
rooms. 

While the two cadets are dressing we have time to 
glance at their quarters. They are fortunate in hav- 


94 


NAVY BLUE. 


ing, as we have seen, a corner room, into which the 
morning sun is now shining brightly. It is about 
eighteen feet square, with walls and woodwork painted 
a light gray. The uncarpeted floor has also a coat of 
paint of a slightly warmer tint. 

There are two narrow iron beds in opposite corners 
of the room, each with woven-wire springs, thin hair 
mattress and pillow, and ordinary bedclothes. 

In the centre of the apartment stands a small, square 
table, painted brown, and two chairs. Against the 
wall are two wardrobes, each containing uniforms and 
outer clothing on one side, and shelves neatly piled 
with undergarments and small articles on the other. 
Every article, and its exact place in the wardrobe, 
must conform to the regulations. On the outside of 
these pieces of furniture are the names of the occu- 
pants of the room, each on a metallic tag; and on Nor- 
man’s there hangs also a tag labelled ‘‘ In charge of 
room ” — ^whereby we know that he is responsible for 
the general condition of the quarters during the pres- 
ent week, he and his chum alternating in this office. 

The top of the wardrobe is the resting-place for 
several scientific works, which already begin to show 
signs of wear, and there are two shelves full besides 
against the opposite wall. 

The furniture of the room is completed by an iron- 
frame washstand with its appurtenances, together with 
a small mirror and catchall, the latter containing, 


RUMORS OF WAR. 


95 

among other toilet articles, a brand-new razor- 
strop ! 

The room is heated by steam, and near the radiator 
are two brooms, which may be assumed to have — thus 
far — swept clean. Shoes, blacking kit, rubber coat, 
everything in sight is kept in the pink of order, lest 
the watchful eye of the cadet officer of the day should 
observe and report a breach of discipline, resulting in 
a demerit for the luckless occupant. 

Morning gun-fire and reveille were at six o’clock. 
At 6.35 A.M. came the ringing assembly call from the 
bugle, and the cadets hurried downstairs and out into 
the grounds, where they fell into their places for 
battalion formation, Saunders and some others of the 
fourth class rubbing their eyes sleepily. 

Three minutes after the assembly ” came a second 
call. A cadet officer at once stepped to the front of 
each company and rapidly called the roll, each mem- 
ber answering Here! ” with more or less briskness. 
One or two cadets had made too close a calculation 
and came dashing up at the last minute, but in time to 
answer to their names, thus substituting a “ late ” 
mark for an absent.” 

Count — fours 1 ” commanded the officer. 

This done, he reported to his chief, who thereupon 
aligned his company upon the centre or “ color com- 
pany.” The adjutant verified the alignment after 
regular army tactics, and having reported to the cadet 


96 


JV-AFY BLUE, 


officer in command, read in a loud tone certain orders 
as to the routine of the day, drills for various divisions, 
etc. The battalion was then marched into the mess- 
hall, where each cadet at once went to the place 
previously assigned him. 

“ Seats! ” shouted the cadet lieutenant-commander, 
and with a rattling of chair-legs the order was gladly 
obeyed. 

For the next half hour knives, forks, and tongues 
were busy. 

The whole body of cadets, it should be stated, was 
divided at the beginning of the term into four divi- 
sions and each division into four “ crews.” In the 
mess-hall each crew, in command of a senior cadet 
officer, was large enough to fill one of the long tables. 

Several other fourth-class men were in the same 
crew with Norman, and he was soon given a hint that 
something unusual was in the air. 

“ What is it? ” he inquired, sotto voce, of Dick 
Staples, a big California classmate, whose seat was 
next his own. 

“ Some of the ‘ youngsters ’ are going to run two or 
three of our fellows, so they say.” 

In recent years the term “ youngsters ” signifies, 
in academic parlance, the next class above the lowest; 
and Norman knew that “ running ” was the term used 
for the rather mild form of hazing which was fabled 
to have survived the barbaric days of yore, in spite of 


RUMORS OF WAR. 


97 


the stern regulation to the contrary, and the prompt 
punishment sure to be served out by the authorities 
to the delinquent when discovered. 

“ We’ll be ready for ’em,” rejoined Holmes confi- 
dently. “ I guess they won’t tackle you, Staples! ” 

The latter stood six feet tall in his stockings, and 
thus far but few slights had been put upon him by 
upper classmen; but, as it proved, his time was yet to 
come. 

Passing through the yard at a later hour in the day, 
he met a couple of youngsters who halted him in the 
middle of “ Love Lane ” (as the walk is called which 
bisects the grounds), and gazed at him sternly. 

“ Well, what do you want? ” asked the big Cali- 
fornian with an imperturbable countenance. 

“ In the first place, plebe, you can touch your cap, 
and wait till you’re spoken to,” said one of the second- 
class men, frowning. 

And secondly,” added the other, don’t forget to 
say ' sir.’ ” 

“ I’ll see you — suspended first,” said Staples. “ Get 
out of my way, or I may tread on youl ” 

The two cadets exchanged glances and turned red; 
but there was something in this plebe’s manner, not 
to say stature, which discouraged further familiarities. 
Merely growling “You’ll pay for this! ” they moved 
aside, while Staples sauntered serenely on to his 
quarters. 

7 


98 


NAVY BLUE. 


Somehow a report of this encounter got round, 
and at supper that night there was a buzz of sup- 
pressed excitement among the men of the two lower 
classes, and many curious glances cast at the auda- 
cious plebe who had dared to violate tradition by 
openly defying a youngster — nay, two of them at 
once! The officer in charge, a commissioned officer 
of the United States navy, detailed as assistant to the 
commandant of cadets, and responsible for their con- 
duct in the mess-hall, was shrewd enough to gather 
that trouble was brewing. Having himself passed 
through all the vicissitudes of plebehood and young- 
sterdom, he readily guessed the nature of the mischief 
that was in the air, and passed word at the first 
opportunity for the cadet officer of the day (whose 
reign lasted twenty-four hours) and the cadets in 
charge ” to exercise unusual vigilance in their inspec- 
tion of quarters, and to enforce all rules rigidly as to 
disturbance in rooms, unusual congregating of cadets, 
and extinguishing lights at taps. He himself over- 
stayed his time at quarters by a good hour that he 
might be on hand to suppress any disorderly conduct. 

The Macedonian lion ’’ at the entrance of the 
commandant’s office looked even grimmer than usual 
next morning as the cadets filed past to breakfast. 
Nothing unusual had occurred during the night so 
far as the authorities knew, but all hands felt that 
the cloud must break somehow and somewhere. 


RUMORS OF WAR. 


99 

At the close of the breakfast half-hour a small bell 
was sounded, as usual. 

“ Rise ! called the cadet lieutenant-commander. 

Another clatter as the cadets took their places be- 
hind their chairs. 

“ Parade — rest! ” 

All took the prescribed military position, with hands 
loosely clasped in front, and faced the kind-hearted 
chaplain, for whom every cadet in the academy felt a 
personal affection. 

A brief prayer, and the orders came: 

“ Attention! March out! ” 

At five minutes before eight sounded another shrill 
call from the bugle, and men came hurrying out from 
the buildings to form first in battalion, then breaking 
into small sections of six to a dozen men, each com- 
manded by a section leader, appointed every week. 

One section of fourth-class men was led by Holmes, 
who marched his small command to the recitation- 
room for algebra, there reported to the instructor, and 
resigned responsibility for the conduct of the men 
until the hour was up. He then rose, and commanded : 

^^Rise! March out!’’ 

The section marched out of the recitation-room to 
the corridor, proceeded to put on their caps, fall in, 
and at the command “ Forward — march! ” filed down- 
stairs, where they were dismissed. Norman there- 
upon approached the officer in charge, and, touching 


100 


NAVY BLUE, 


his cap, reported: “ Sir, I report the return of my 
section.” 

This was, and is, the regular regime for attendance 
upon and dismissal from all recitations at the acad- 
emy. The fourth-class section leaders were at first 
bothered a good deal about the details of the service, 
saluted at the wrong time, bungled their orders, or 
gave them sheepishly, and made various ludicrous 
mistakes; but the officer in charge, though stern of 
lineament, was kind of heart and possessed of almost 
infinite patience in correcting errors; and all these 
petty details soon became a matter of habit. 

At the same time the constant military discipline 
and oversight told upon the bearing of the new men. 
Slouching shoulders were thrown back, heads were 
held erect, the step became firm and manly. Many 
of the youngest class had been trained athletes in their 
preparatory schools, but some, strong and healthy 
though they were, had been pampered by rich food 
and sumptuous accommodations at home. These 
soon showed the effect of cool, fresh air at night, hard 
beds, hard work, outdoor exercise, and plain, whole- 
some food. Their eyes brightened and their cheeks 
glowed, until “ high thinking ” naturally followed 
close upon plain living.” 

Nothing unusual marked the day of which we have 
been speaking. Recitations occupied most of the 
hours until four o’clock, when the regular outdoor 




RUMORS OF WAR. 


lOI 


drills took place. The first division of the fourth 
class were exercised in company movements, while 
other divisions were busy in the boats and in artillery 
practice. His six years of military drill at the Latin 
School had rendered Norman proficient in this exer- 
cise, and he received a special word of commendation 
from the instructor. 

Supper, with its roll-call and formation, was at half- 
past six. Until 9.30 the cadets were supposed to be 
studying in their quarters. Then came a half-hour 
of freedom, until “taps at ten o’clock; and thereby 
hangs a tale. 


CHAPTER XII. 


“ RUNNING A PLEBE/’ 

Thank goodness!” exclaimed Dave, throwing 
down his Chauvenet as the merry call sounded 
through the quarters, announcing that study hours 
were closed. “ I don’t see why geometry ” 

The words were on his lips when the door was 
opened without ceremony, and a third-class man 
walked in, followed by a dozen more youngsters, all 
wearing masks. 

Norman closed his book with a slam, and sprang 
to his feet, his eyes flashing. 

“ That’s right, plebe,” said the leader of the visitors. 
“ Always give your seat to an upper classman. Bones, 
are the instruments ready and the victims prepared? ” 

A tall figure in black, with face hidden by a black 
domino, and a skull and cross-bones depicted on his 
sable chest, strode to the front. 

“ The irons are heated. Redoubtable,” said he in 
jarring tones; “ the supplementary victims are near at 
hand, but have not yet sufficiently recovered from the 
rack to be introduced.” 

‘‘ Look here, fellows — ” began Holmes angrily. 


( 


RUNNING A PLEBE: 


103 


“'Fellows?’” thundered the Redoubtable, “and 
dares a low, contemptible Sep. plebe address this 
august company in such terms? Aha, seize them, 
minions! ” 

“ Take it easy. Norm,” laughed Rexdale as he 
and his room-mate were grasped and their arms held 
behind them. “ It’s never disgraceful to yield to 
numbers. What, oh most Redoubtable,” he added 
with twinkling eyes, “ is your pleasure, and to what 
do we owe the transcendent honor of this visit? ” 

Holmes’ common sense came to his relief, and 
he, too, saw that for the present it was better to 
yield to the inevitable. His momentary anger dis- 
appeared, and he was silent, awaiting further develop- 
ments. 

Before the chief could reply, an accession to the 
party was received in the shape of five more upper- 
class cadets, with three unfortunate plebes, whom they 
evidently had just rounded up. Two of these seemed 
somewhat alarmed at the prospect, and gazed at the 
masked figures with apprehension. The third was no 
other than Pete Rollins. He evidently had made a 
spirited resistance at the outset, for his hands were 
pinioned behind him and a towel was tied across his 
mouth to prevent His giving an alarm. 

The room was now pretty full, and as time pressed, 
business was entered upon at once. 

“ Keeper of the Portal,” remarked the leader 


104 


NAVY BLUE. 


harshly, “ what of the base spies and pretenders of 
authority whose dastardly office it is to limit the 
diversions of our free company? What of the base- 
born interloper who — who, in short, is in charge of 
this floor? ” 

“ He himself is given in charge of two of the faith- 
ful, oh Redoubtable, in number forty-two, which an 
ailing plebe hath vacated for the nonce.” 

“ And that arch enemy, the chief for to-day only, 
of all the buzzards? ” * 

“ He hath left his post, Redoubtable, to attend a 
strangely urgent summons from a superior officer at 
the utmost confines of the — the grounds.” 

“We will proceed at once. Bring forward the first 
victim.” 

Rexdale was pushed to the front, and stood there, 
good-humoredly facing his visitors, who must have 
liked his looks, for he was let off easy. Indeed the 
preparations were far more formidable than the intent 
of the youngsters really justified, the more severe 
forms of hazing, as it was practised a generation 
ago, having entirely disappeared from the academy. 

Dave was first made to accost the broom as if it 
were a young lady, to ask it to dance, and to flirt with 
it in the most approved manner. 

* The cadet petty officers, wearing on their uniforms as insignia 
of rank an eagle perched on an anchor, are locally known as “ buz- 
zards,” one of whom was at present officer of the day. 


RUNNING A FLEBEr 


105 


The fun-loving lad entered right into the spirit of 
the thing, sidled up to the broom with a languishing 
glance, asked after its mamma, and soon had the 
room, plebes and third-class men alike, in a roar of 
laughter. No doubt he was subsequently voted a 
good fellow, for he was never annoyed thereafter, be- 
yond having to conform to established tradition in 
the way of saluting upper-class men and saying Sir 
in addressing them. This he did so graciously that 
they could not complain, but with such an amused 
and indulgent smile that the youngster was apt to feel 
rather silly and not stand too aggressively on his 
rights. 

Norman took his cue from Dave. He waltzed with 
one of the chairs with infinite grace, and without 
hesitation spoke one of his Latin School pieces, using 
the table as a platform. A few minutes only were 
devoted to his part of the entertainment. 

The next move was to command two of the plebes 
to “ lay aloft ’’ on the wardrobes and make up their 
beds in the maintop.’’ They found some difficulty 
in climbing the shelves, and were kindly aided by 
several of the maskers, to the detriment of shins and 
knees. They were no sooner doubled uncomfortably 
in their lofty resting-places than the “ disappearing 
act ” was performed. 

“ Every plebe out of sight in thirty seconds ! ” was 
the stern command of the “ Redoubtable,” who turned 


io6 


NAVY BLUE, 


out the gas at the same instant. “ If one of you can 
be seen when the light appears, woe to you! ” 

There was a scramble for the space under the beds 
and inside the wardrobes. Rollins, gnashing his teeth 
with rage all this time, would not move, but was tum- 
bled unceremoniously under the table by his guards. 

Light!’’ 

The gas was turned on. Not a plebe was in sight. 
At that moment a step was heard in the corridor. 

“ Buzzard! ” exclaimed two or three. Come out 
here, you two plebes of the room,” whispered the 
Redoubtable energetically. 

Dave emerged from his wardrobe and Norman 
swung himself in over the window-sill. The young- 
sters pocketed their masks and two or three picked 
up books. The door opened. 

“ Yes, it’s a difficult problem,” said he who had 
personated “ Bones,” but who had hastily removed 
his insignia and stufled it under one of the mattresses. 
“ But you have to raise x + 30^ to the ;ith power, 
and ” 

“ What’s going on here? ” asked the officer of the 
day, repressing a smile that twitched the corners of 
his mouth. 

“ Oh, we’re just making a friendly call,” said the 
third-class man, gazing innocently upon the officer, 
after springing to his feet and saluting. 

The officer of the day was a good-hearted fellow, and 


RUNNING A PLEBE. 


107 


hated to get a cadet into trouble so early in the term. 
He glanced at the beds, still occupying the tops of the 
wardrobes, and at the heel of Rollins’ left boot, which 
unluckily protruded from under the table, though the 
cadets had carelessly grouped themselves around it 
when they rose to salute. His mouth twitched again, 
but his words were grave and his mien dignified. 

Any complaint to make? ” he asked, turning to 
Rexdale and Holmes. 

“ No, sir,” they answered in a breath. 

“ I shall have to report you for disorderly room, 
beds not in proper place, and — boots left under table,” 
said the young officer. “ You’d better not stay here 
any longer,” he added significantly to the young- 
sters. “ It’s almost taps, and the ‘ warning ’ will 
beat in three minutes.” 

With these words he turned on his heel and left the 
room. The leader of the runners,” whose name was 
Bob Sands, immediately held out his hand to Dave 
and Norman. 

“ You’re all right,” he said shortly. Count on 
me for a friend. Sorry for your demerits.” 

The two plebes crawled out from under the beds, 
dusted their knees, and were allowed to depart. 
Rollins was dragged from under the table, redder 
and angrier than ever. He was released from bond- 
age, but told that if he dared to make any disturbance, 
or leave information of his treatment with the author- 


io8 


NAVY BLUE. 


ities — as he threatened to do — the academy would be 
made too hot to hold him. He knew this, and hurried 
off to his room, vowing vengeance on his captors. 

The long roll of the warning drum was now heard, 
and the upper-class men withdrew, leaving the two 
young New Englanders to put their room to rights 
and laugh over the- evening’s adventures. The de- 
merits,. to be sure, w.ere regrettable; but they meant 
to keep their score clean in the future, and the knowl- 
edge that these misconduct marks were incurred 
through no fault of their own, prevented their feeling 
very badly about them. 

The lads wrote a long account of the “ running ” to 
their sisters. Truth compels me to admit that Dave 
wrote to Hallie, and Norman to Anemone; but as the 
girls exchanged letters by the next mail, it didn’t make 
much difference. 

There were doubtless a few other occasions ” 
when the plebes were gently run. A favorite diversion 
among the youngsters was to insist upon the “ sub- 
ject ” spelling his own name. One Roosevelt — not 
the distinguished gentleman in the Navy Department 
— was peculiarly unfortunate in this respect. He was 
of English birth, and when much excited or em- 
barrassed would aspirate his vowels and dispense with 
his h’s ” in a way that tickled the risibilities of his 
tormentors and gratified them immenselv. 

Now, then,” a group of upper-class cadets would 


RUNNING A PLEBE.” 


109 

say, catching the poor plebe down on the embankment 
or behind the gym., “ what’s your name, you? ” 

“ Samuel H. Roosevelt — s-sir! ” touching his cap 
hastily, at a ferocious glance from a senior. 

That’s not right. Your whole name, d’ye mind? ’’ 
“ S-Samuel Higginsbotham Roosevelt, sir.” 

'' Now spell it! ” 

» S-a-m ” 

“No!” thunders the other. “Begin again, and 
don’t leave off the ^ sir,’ if you want a whole skin! ” 
The unhappy plebe sees there is no help for it; 
blushing fiery-red and tumbling raucously over his 
letters, he recommences: 

“ S, sir — A, sir — m, sir — u, sir ” 

“Don’t talk to me! Face the river!” 

“ M, sir — u, sir ” 

“ I tell you not to address me as ‘ You, sir.’ ” 

“ I didn’t mean ” 

“Then don’t do it! Begin again! ” 

Roosevelt clenches his hands in sheer distraction. 
This time he is allowed to proceed until he reaches 
the last letter of his first name, which he aspirates 
loudly and fatally. 

“ What! Profane language in the academy grounds! 
And from a plebe to a senior classman! We shall 
have to report you for that! Now go on! ” 

The wretched cadet stumbles on, forgetting how to 
spell his own name, with the ever-recurring “ sir,” and 


no 


NAVY BLUE. 


putting three “ g’s ” into “ Higginsbotham/’ where- 
upon he is brought up short. 

“This is a bad case! says youngster, shaking his 
head gravely. “ He’s plainly trifling with us.” 

“ R, sir — o, sir — o, sir ” 

“'Ah, sir — oh, sir — oh, sir!”’ mocks the relent- 
less inquisitor. “ What do you say, men? Red-hot 
pincers and the larger-sized gridiron at midnight? ” 

“ V, sir — E, sir — L, sir (rough breathing again) — 
T, sir,” concludes plebe with a sigh of relief. 

“ Winds up with more profanity and calls me a 
'teaser,’” remarks third class. ''Very well, boy; 
your fate’s settled. Now, run! ” 

Roosevelt loses no time in obeying the last com- 
mand. When he goes to bed that night, he wonders 
if he is to be pulled out and broiled at midnight; 
dreams that he is, and wakes up at reveille next morn- 
ing to laugh over the miseries of the preceding day. 

Norman all this time kept up a correspondence with 
his uncle Richard, who seemed greatly interested in 
the details of cadet life, skylarking and all. In regard 
to" running,” the banker wrote to his nephew: 

“ As to tormenting the youngest class, I earnestly hope that when 
you yourself are promoted, next year, you’ll have nothing to do with 
it. Hazing in all its forms is at best a mean and cowardly business. 
Not only are the hazers superior in numbers, but in prestige and 
experience. Toughened by a year of discipline and absence from 
home, they have become presumably more self-reliant and manly 
than ever before. They know the ways of cadet life, and have 


RUNNING A FLEBE. 


Ill 


become accustomed to knocking about among their fellows, and 
dispensing with the ease and comforts of home. The least spark 
of chivalry should make them the protectors and defenders of the 
younger entering class, who are, most likely, homesick, more or less 
timid, and largely unacquainted with each other. If the plebes 
united in squads to haze individual upper-class men, it would be far 
more decent. I was a freshman at Harvard thirty or forty years 
ago, and I know what I’m talking about, my boy. As to the way 
to meet the indignities offered you when you are yourself ‘ run,’ 
there are only two sensible methods. Either yield good-naturedly, 
do what you are bid, and keep your tetnper throughout — as I under- 
stand you and Rexdale did the other night — or, as I did at Cam- 
bridge, resist, tooth and nail, first, last, and always. I’m not sure, 
on the whole, but your way was better, though there is a certain 
comfort gained in feeling that you haven’t ‘knuckled under.’ One 
thing you can do, as I have said ; keep clear of everything of the 
sort next year. The under dog in a fight cannot well withdraw, but 
the upper dog can gracefully and with dignity. Better still, he can 
keep out of the fight altogether ; best of all, he can take the part of 
the under dog, and help him fight his battles.” 

How well Norman obeyed this last injunction we 
shall see in a later chapter. 

The case of Dick Staples, the long and lean Cali- 
fornian, had been postponed during these minor and 
incidental entertainments in the plebe quarters, but 
more was to be heard of it before many days. Mean- 
while the interests of football afforded an outlet for 
such superfluous energies of the cadets as could not 
find sufficient vent in the daily four-o’clock ‘‘ practical 
instruction.” 


CHAPTER XIII. 


AN ACADEMY HOP. 

The new cadets soon learned that football and other 
athletic interests at the academy were fostered and 
managed (always under final oversight of the official 
authorities) by the “ U. S. A. Athletic Association,” 
the president and treasu/er of which were elected by 
the whole body of cadets, from members of the three 
upper classes. The captains of the teams, football, 
baseball, boat (crew), and fencing, were chosen by all 
those in the respective teams who had participated in 
an outside contest. The captains, in turn, appointed 
each his own manager. 

This year all the offices above enumerated, except 
treasurer, were filled by men from the first and second 
classes. The actual working members of the teams 
were chosen for their ability, irrespective of class. 

In addition to the academy teams, each class had its 
football eleven and its own crew and nine. The sur- 
plus football material was combined in a large squad 
of players under the name of “ Hustlers,” who, each 
and all, were fired with ambition to “ hit ” one of the 
regular teams. 


AN ACADEMY HOP. 


II3 

Norman at once went out with the Hustlers/' 
where his energetic play and head-work soon singled 
him out as a candidate for higher honors. He entered, 
to be sure, under the disadvantage of a four-months’ 
handicap, the May plebes having learned to know 
each other well during the summer cruise, and having 
selected most of their teams before the beginning of 
the October term, when he put in an appearance on 
the practice gridiron for the first time. 

Relations between him and Rollins were still 
strained. The latter was mortified that the St. Bo- 
tolph man should have seen his own discomfiture at 
the hands of the youngsters; and the close rivalry in 
football matters did not tend to close the breach. After 
a few hours of practice — a part of which, as the days 
grew shorter, were actually eked out by electric light 
— Norman was chosen to fill the one remaining va- 
cancy in the class eleven. Rollins now headed a 
regular clique, whose principal mission seemed to be 
to make life uncomfortable for the Holmes set.” A 
game was soon played, in which the plebe eleven 
defeated the second-class men, gaining great glory 
thereby. As we have already witnessed one contest 
of this sort, and shall be spectators at a far more im- 
portant game later on in Norman’s career, the class 
tournament may be dismissed without further refer- 
ence or report of detailed play. 

Early in November the academy eleven played the 
8 


ATAFV BLUE. 


1 14 

Princeton Reserves, and then, indeed, excitement was 
rife. Hundreds of tadies were present in the throng 
of spectators, and enlivened the field not only with 
their bright faces, but with flags, parasols, and wraps 
of blue and old gold on the navy side and orange 
and black for Princeton. 

Norman led the class cheering for the plebes, but 
loudest of all rang out the academy yell: 

Rah ! Rah ! Rah ! 

“Hi! Ho! Ha! 

“U. S. N. A.! 

“Boom! Sis! Bah! 

“ Navee — E — e! ” 

The academy won by a single play — a goal from 
the field, kicked by the popular half-back who cap- 
tained the team that year. 

In the evening there was a hop, held, as usual, in 
the gymnasium from Half-past seven to ten. 

“ I say. Girlie, going to the hop? ” asked Norman 
as the cadets walked back past old quarters from the 
football field. “ Girlie ’’ was the class nickname for 
Tickerson, his fair, beardless face and diminutive 
stature, combined with his favorite style of signature, 
suggesting the title. In vain Tickerson took to writ- 
ing his full name, “ Grosvenor,” as indeed he was 
obliged to do on all official papers; “ Girlie” he had 


AJ\r ACADEMY HOP. 


II5 

been christened, and “ Girlie ” he would remain 
throughout his academic course. Dave was already 
known as ‘‘ Farmer” Rexdale; Norman, having per- 
haps unduly boasted of his preparatory school, of 
which he was very proud, was “ Lat. Holmes.” Saun- 
ders rejoiced in the name of “ Sandy.” Staples, the 
elongated Californian, was almost instantly called 
“ Telegraph,” from his unmistakable likeness to the 
poles used for the wires in the conveyance of the 
electric fluid; and Tel. Staples ” he will always be to 
a certain group of old academy cronies, though he 
long ago retired to civil pursuits. 

“ Oh, you know well enough,” said Tickerson, in 
answer to Holmes' question. “ Full dress uniform — 
dress cap and white gloves.” 

“ What’s up? ” asked Sandy, joining the couple 
and walking on beside them. 

“ Hop. Going? ” 

Well,” rejoined Saunders, tripping the light 
fantastic isn’t my strong point — is it. Girlie? Had him 
for a partner in waltz-drill the other day and climbed 
all over his little toes,” he explained to Norman. “ But 
I guess I’ll go, all the same.” 

“Perhaps she'll be there?” slyly suggested Dave, 
completing the quartette. 

“ Who’s ‘ she ’ ? ” inquired the other, innocent as a 
lamb. 

“ ^ Grace, ’tis a charming sound,’ ” sang Girlie. 


ii6 


NAFV BLUE. 


'' Say, Sandy, did she promise to come when you were 
over there the other night? ” 

Saunders turned red, but his tormentors made him 
own up that the subject had been broached, and that 
the possibility of her attendance, under her mother’s 
chaperonage, had been contemplated. 

Now, you fellows let up, will you? ” he added with 
a good-natured growl. “ That was the only ^ liberty ’ 
I’ve had since I came, and you’re just green with envy 
because you didn’t go too. Ought to have heard the 
way she talked about you, Girlie! ” 

The four cadets duly registered their names with 
the officer in charge, as required, and at a quarter 
before eight marched in a squad of four to the gym- 
nasium. 

The band was already playing a two-step, one or 
two couples were frisking about the floor, a dozen or 
more ladies were seated along the sides, and gracefully 
draped figures were constantly arriving. 

We don’t know anybody, and I don’t see how 
we’re going to dance,” began Norman discontentedly, 
when he caught a glimpse of a merry pair of dark eyes 
glancing his way from under some sort of fascinating 
white scarf. 

“There’s Miss Lee! ” he exclaimed to Dave. “ Hold 
on, you mustn’t bow till she’s got her wraps off. Here, 
Girlie, let me feel your pulse. Where’s Sandy? He’ll 
be sorry if he’s late! ” 


AJV ACADEMY HOP. 


II7 

Lo, three minutes later the missing Saunders 
proudly escorting the young lady into the hall! 

“One on us!” whispered Tickerson as his jolly 
classmate led his prize triumphantly to a seat. “ Come 
on, let’s go over and speak to her.” 

The three young men marched stiffly across the 
smooth floor, narrowly escaping collision with an 
upper-class man and his fair partner, and made three 
correct bows to Mrs. Lee and her daughter. Saunders 
glared at them as they approached, but subsided and 
accepted the inevitable. 

“ Ver’ glad to see you! ” laughed Grace. “ I wasn’t 
sure you’d notice me, in those lovely uniforms. And 
such nice bows you make, too! ” she added mis- 
chievously. 

“Yes, Miss Lee,” said Tickerson, “we’re very 
nautical here. You’ve often heard of ship’s bows, no 
doubt, and now you’ve seen them! ” 

This served to break the ice, and requests for dances 
were thereupon eagerly proffered. 

“ Of co’se the first is Mr. Saunders,” said Grace, 
smiling. “ The second — oh, Susie, let me present my 
friends, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Saunders, Mr. Tickerson, 
Mr. Rexdale — Miss Franklin. 

Four more neat naval ♦bows. “ May-I-have-the- 
pleasure-of-this-dance-Miss-Franklin? ” asked Nor- 
man, before the others could get further than 
“ May ” 


ii8 


NAVY BLUE, 


“Well, if that isn’t desertion!” laughed Grace. 
“ Just as I was going to give him the first waltz! ” 

The others protested that he now deserved no dance 
with her at all, and that each should have a third of it, 
in addition to his own. 

Some of the youngsters and not a few dignified 
first-class men looked with envy on the audacious 
plebes that were having such a jolly time with that 
pretty girl; and one of them, who knew her slightly 
and who had an ’85 star on his collar, interrupted the 
merriment by stalking up and demanding rather than 
requesting a dance. 

“ I’m so sorry, Mr. Morton,” said Grace demurely, 
“ but the next four dances are all engaged, and my 
mother and I have to go home early to-night. I’m 
afraid ” 

The senior did not wait to have his rejection put 
into words. He bowed stiffly and backed off, to 
console himself with a Baltimore belle considerably 
older than the pretty Southerner and by no means as 
jolly. 

“ What engaging manners he has ! ” said Miss Lee, 
with one of her mischievous glances at the retreating 
officer. “ Mr. Saunders, if you really want this two- 


Away they went, presently bumping into Norman 
and his partner and threatening several other couples 
that came in their way. 



academy hop 



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AN ACADEMY HOP. 


1 19 

Sandy dances like a Kansas blizzard! ” exclaimed 
Tickerson as they watched their classmate’s erratic 
course. ‘‘ Think what a momentum he must have 
when he bears down — there he goes again! almost 
over! — There’s a problem for you, Farmer, m x v = 
M. Saunders weighs at least a hundred and seventy, 
and his velocity can’t be far from fifty miles an hour.” 

Panting and laughing. Miss Lee resumed her seat 
as the music stopped. Saunders w^as warm and 
solemn from his exertions, and excused himself while 
he retired (over Mrs. Lee’s feet), evidently to cool his 
brow at the gym. door. 

Other introductions followed that to Miss Franklin, 
and the cadets had a thoroughly good time. Dave 
and Norman wrote all about it to their sisters, describ- 
ing the pretty girls they met at the hop, the dances and 
the conversation, just as they had done concerning the 
running ” adventure, with this slight exception — 
each wrote to his own sister this time! 

Not long afterward the condition of their conduct 
list enabled them to spend an evening at Annapolis. 
Of course they went at once to Mrs. Lee, who was 
now living on a pleasant street near the Capitol. 
Grace was in a quiet mood on this particular occasion, 
and her character showed in a new light. She inquired 
about the studies and discipline of the academy, and 
evinced a genuine sisterly interest in the young naval 
cadets. In return, they told her of Hallie and Anem- 


120 


NAVY BLUE. 


one, of their respective homes, of their hopes and 
ambitions; and half-past nine came all too soon. 

“Good-night!” said Grace as she accompanied 
them to the door. “ I’ve enjoyed your call ever so 
much. Do be good boys and don’t get demerits 
enough to keep you from coming again soon.” 

“ Nice girl, that,” remarked Dave as the two 
walked down Maryland Avenue arm in arm. “ I only 
know one other who’s nicer.” 

“ So do I,” said Norman, rather incoherently. 

And they didn’t mean the same “other,” either! 

It should be explained, by the way, that, as Miss 
Lee had indicated by her parting charge, leave of 
absence, or “ liberty,” for an evening in Annapolis or 
officers’ quarters, depended almost entirely on the 
misconduct demerits of each cadet accumulated during 
the preceding month. 

In each of the four classes in the academy three 
grades of merit were recognized, and applied to the 
cadet’s record every thirty days. Each grade had its 
privileges attached, diminishing in proportion to the 
increase of demerits determining each grade. For 
instance, the largest liberty was naturally allowed to 
the first grade of the first class, and consisted of — 

I. “ Leave every Saturday from dinner formation 
until 9.30 P.M. to visit Annapolis and officers’ quarters 
in the academy grounds.” 

II . “ Leave to accept invitations to dinner Sunday 


AN ACADEMY HOP. 


I2I 


in Annapolis or in officers’ quarters in the academy 
grounds. Leave to end at evening roll-call.” 

III. “ Leave to escort ladies to their residences after 
balls and hops. ‘ Taps ’ for cadets under this privilege 
to be one hour after the closing of the ball or hop.” 

From this exalted condition of affairs the table of 
privileges dwindled steadily down to that of the third 
grade, namely, “Leave every fourth Saturday from 
dinner formation until evening roll-call to visit An- 
napolis and officers’ quarters in the academy grounds.” 

The grades were determined as follows (the figures 
referring to demerits in one month) : 


Class. 

First 

Second 

Grade. 

Grade. 

First 

6 

12 

Second 

8 

l6 

Third 


20 

Fourth 

12 

24 


Cadets exceeding in any one month the number of 
demerits allowed their respective classes in the second 
grade, constituted the third grade. 

Demerits were given for misdemeanors of nine 
different degrees of culpability: from the most serious 
— including gambling, intoxication, cheating (or 
“ gouging,” as it is locally termed), mutinous conduct, 
hazing, and two or three other grave offences — the 
penalty for any one of which was lOO demerits; to the 
most venial, receiving only one demerit each, such as 


122 


NAVY BLUE. 


“ late at formation,” room not in proper order,” or 
“ untidy in dress or person.” The extreme number 
of demerits in one year, consistent with the cadet’s re- 
taining his standing in the academy, was : 


First class 150 

Second class 200 

Third class 250 

Fourth class 300 


When any cadet received more than the number 
allowed his class, he was “ deficient in conduct,” and 
so reported to the Navy Department. 

As personal conduct, liberty, and discipline form so 
large a part of the daily routine and system of the 
Naval Academy, this rather tedious explanation has 
been necessary for a true understanding of the life 
of the young cadets in whom we are specially inter- 
ested. Norman was impulsive, and constantly in dan- 
ger of damaging his record by some trifling neglect; 
while steady-going Dave hardly knew what it was to 
see his name posted for misconduct. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


THE SCRAP IN NO. 32. 

Two days after the hop “ Telegraph ” Staples was 
notified that his little affair with the two insulted 
youngsters would receive immediate attention. The 
Californian laughed in the face of the messenger that 
bore the note, tore up the direful missive, and tossed 
the fragments into the river as he strolled along the 
sea-wall. This piece of contumacy was duly reported, 
and another item added to Staples’ already heavy 
score. 

The bugle notes at 9.30 that evening had hardly 
died away, when a light tap sounded on the door of the 
tall plebe’s room. 

Come in! ” he drawled lazily, taking his long legs 
down from the table. His room-mate, Olsen, was an 
inoffensive little chap, five feet three in his stockings, 
and almost as broad as he was long. Some one had 
called attention to the fact that the two men, when 
walking together across the parade, looked exactly 
like a bat and ball taking a promenade; and had not 
their nicknames already been firmly fixed they doubt- 


124 


NAVY BLUE. 


less would have been so entitled thereafter. As it was, 
Olsen was known as “ Tadpole/’ an equally appropri- 
ate name. “ Tel. and Tad.,” or “ Tad. and Pole,” as it 
was sometimes varied, became familiar figures in the 
grounds, and, as is often the case with academy chums, 
firm friends for life. In the same way, the two 
brothers Whittaker, who were constantly together, 
walking arm in arm, were tagged “ Dumb ” and 
“ Bell.” Dumb Whittaker proved to be the best 
fencer in the class, while Bell was almost as proficient 
in his specialty — swimming, affording many oppor- 
tunities for jokes regarding the “ diving-Bell.” In 
speaking of these things, however, we have far antici- 
pated the events of the early months of the class of 
“ ’9 — ,” of which our friends Holmes, Rexdale & Co. 
were members. 

“ You’re wanted in No. 32, next floor below,” said 
a man curtly, having complied with Tel.’s request. It 
was the messenger who had brought the note that 
afternoon. 

“ Well, now you’ve published your want, you might 
specify the nature of it,” said Staples, coolly eyeing 
the messenger from head to foot. “ What is it — 
‘ general housework,’ ‘ butler,’ or ” (after a moment’s 
reflection) “ ‘ able-bodied man to discipline a family 
of unruly boys ’ ? I don’t run a reform school, young 
fellow! ” 

Mercury frowned blackly. ‘‘You’ll find out what 


THE SCRAP IJSP NO. 32. 


125 


it’s for when you get there,” he snapped out. “ If 
you’re afraid to come, say so! ” 

“ Well, I am a timid little thing,” says Mr. Staples, 
stretching his long limbs. I’ll be there, though, in- 
side of five minutes. So long. Bub. Shut the door 
gently.” 

The messenger, or challenge-bearer, as Staples 
knew he was, regarded the insolent plebe for a mo- 
ment with speechless indignation; then, finding noth- 
ing more to say, slammed the door and marched off. 

“ Look here, Tel.,” said Tad. anxiously, “ I’m afraid 
you’ve got into a bad scrape. They say a fellow who 
defies the upper-class men gets awfully used up, sooner 
or later.” 

Don’t you worry, my son,” said Staples, con- 
descending to smile a little. “ Tartars are scarce 
nowadays, but a few are left, and there are two or 
three in my family.” 

But they may jump onto you by the dozen! ” 

“ No, they won’t. They’re good fellows and gentle- 
men, most of them, and there’s no reason why they 
should bear me ill-will. Why, we shall be youngsters 
ourselves in a few months ! ” 

“ If we survive Math, and Skinny,” dolefully added 
Olsen; reference being thereby made to the two 
principal bugbears of cadet life, mathematics and 
physics. 

'' They’ll be fair in this scrap,” continued Dick, ris- 


126 


J\rAFy BLUE. 


ing and shaking himself like a lank stag-hound. “ Tve 
heard Lieutenant Hawthorne tell some good stories 
over his pipe, and I know pretty much what will hap- 
pen. I shall get fair play, and I reckon I can show 
’em a thing or two in the science of boxing,” playfully 
cuffing Tad. as he spoke, in spite of the latter’s en- 
deavor to fend off his hand. ‘‘ Good-by, chummie; 
see you later.” And off he strolled, through the long 
corridor and downstairs, to his fate. 

On arriving at No. 32 he gave a smart knock at the 
door. It was opened an inch or two, and, being 
recognized, he was at once admitted. 

He found a dozen or more third-class men seated 
about the room, on beds and chairs. The table had 
been set back against the wall, leaving the centre of 
the floor unoccupied. 

One of the youngsters stepped forward at once and 
addressed Staples. 

Plebe, you have been found guilty of several 
offences against our class. First, refusing to salute; 
second, omitting ‘ sir ’ in customary form ; third, re- 
ceiving our written invitation to this meeting with 
ill-timed levity; and, fourth, applying opprobrious 
language to several of our members at various times, 
including your reply to the messenger despatched to 
your quarters a few minutes ago. Have you anything 
to say in your defence? ” 

'' Well,” drawled Tel., after a moment’s abstracted 


THE SCRAP IN NO. 32. 


127 

communing with the ceiling, “ I don’t just think of 
anything.” 

“ Will you tender us, as representatives of the class 
of ’9 — , a humble apology and your promise not to 
repeat the offences of which you are accused and 
which by your silence you are deemed to admit? ” 

“ Well, no, not just that,” said Tel. slowly, with- 
drawing his gaze from the top of one of the wardrobes, 
and meeting the eye of his interlocutor, with just a 
little sparkle beginning to show in his own. 

‘‘Very well,” said the senior briskly, dropping his 
dignified style of address, “ then there’s only one 
course; the matter must be settled here and at once. 
Sharp’s the word. Off with your coat, and defend 
yourself.” 

“ All nine? ” asked Tel. carelessly, glancing about 
the room, but with the aforesaid sparkle growing 
brighter. 

“ Of course not! What do you take us for? We’ve 
selected a man as near as possible your own weight. 
Have you any objections to him? Mr. Tozier, step 
forward, please.” 

The man indicated walked into the middle of the 
room and began to remove his coat and vest. He 
was perhaps three inches shorter than Staples, but 
much more stockily built, having a thick neck and a 
splendid chest. 

“ No,” said Tel., “ he’ll do. I don’t care to take off 


128 


JVAFV BLUE. 


any more if your man isn’t afraid of my buttons.” He 
had thrown aside his coat and stood there in his shirt- 
sleeves, as awkward and ungainly-looking a specimen 
of cadet as ever donned the blue uniform. 

Tozier glanced over his bony frame with ill-con- 
cealed contempt. 

Afraid of your buttons ! ” he sneered, doubling his 
fists. '‘Not moosh! Come on, you impertinent, 
long-legged ” 

He did not finish his sentence, for while the words 
were on his lips Staples quietly took a step toward him 
and, feinting with his right, cut up under the other’s 
guard with his left, taking him fairly under the chin. 

Tozier’s jaws came together with a clash, to the 
detriment not only of his brutal challenge, but the 
coarse tongue that was issuing it; and losing his bal- 
ance, the big fellow went down backward with a crash. 

“ What were you saying? ” asked Tel. “ Don’t 
stop on my account! ” He tried to speak coolly, but 
he was young, and so fiercely angry that his voice 
trembled. 

“ Dat was not fair! I was not ready! BHel 
Lache! ” sputtered the young Frenchman, scrambling 
to his feet and rushing at his antagonist like a mad 
bull. 

Tel. dodged and caught his opponent cleverly just 
as the latter swung his arm round and barely failed 
of giving the plebe a blow in the stomach that would 


THE SCRAP IN NO. 32. 


129 

have ended his fighting powers for that night at 
least. 

“ Foul! Foul! ” cried two or three of the spectators, 
rushing forward and seizing their infuriated classmate 
by the arms. 

As they forced him into a corner and wiped his face, 
the leader advanced and said to Tel. with more respect 
than he had yet shown: 

“ That was clearly an attempt at a foul blow below 
the belt, plebe. You’ve a right to claim it and refuse 
to go on.” 

“ Not by a long chalk! ” said Staples, whose blood 
was now up. “ Let go of him, there, or Fll fight him 
in the corner.” 

Tozier was more wary this time. He was a fair 
boxer, and he relied on his strength and experience to 
tire out his opponent. In justice be it said, he would 
not have tried that foul blow had he not lost his head 
in the first fall. 

Staples saw that his antagonist had become more 
dangerous than before, and stood on his guard. At 
last the rush came. The tall plebe took a ringing blow 
on the side of his head, and planted one in return 
straight between the eyes of the Frenchman. 

“ Two minutes more! ” remarked the leader calmly, 
watch in hand, as the combatants separated, breathing 
hard. 

Staples now felt that it was time to crowd the fight. 

9 


130 


NAVY BLUE, 


He advanced upon Tozier and delivered two stinging 
blows in rapid succession, warding the other’s lunges 
successfully, and rousing him once more to blind 
wrath. This was just what the fourth-class man 
wanted. Awaiting his opportunity, he broke the 
other’s guard, and putting all his strength into the 
blow, caught the burly fellow over the right eye. The 
man dropped like a log and lay still, while his backers 
rubbed him and sponged his face. 

^^Time!” called the leader of the youngsters, pocket- 
ing his watch. “ Plebe, the scrap is yours. You are 
personally at liberty to choose your own words — so 
long as they are those of a gentleman — in addressing 
members of the class of ’9 — , and you are excused 
from saluting any but your superior officers. Any 
further difficulty you may have with one of our class 
will be a personal matter. The class is satisfied.” 

Staples had donned his coat and cap, and had one 
hand on the door-knob. 

“ Thank you, sir,” said he calmly, touching his cap. 
“ I have no objections to the regular customs of the 
academy, as such. I merely prefer to follow them 
voluntarily. We Westerners are not used to being 
driven — see? Good-night! Good-night, Mr. Tozier,” 
he added, holding out his hand to his late foe, who 
had gained his feet and was confusedly rubbing his 
head. 

Tozier took his hand sheepishly. You are one 


THE SCRAP IN NO. 32. 


I3I 

vary good fighter,” he said. You will show me zat 
under-cut some time?” 

“ Indeed I will,” replied Tel. heartily. Come 
round to my room any time, and I’ll show you all I 
know. I hope I haven’t hurt you much.” 

The other shook his head with a chagrined laugh. 

You make me see some stars,” he said. “ Me, I 
don’t like you way of lecturing to take sights ! ” 

The room was quickly put to rights, taps sounded, 
and the quarters were silent. 

Neither of the men had received serious injury, 
though Tozier’s black eye, given by that final blow, 
kept him from two or three recitations the next day. 
If the officer in charge noticed the discoloration, he 
said nothing about it, and the affair passed into cadet 
history as the last great official “ scrap ” between 
youngster and plebe at the Naval Academy. 


CHAPTER XV. 


UNDER A CLOUD. 

‘‘ Mr. Holmes, you will find the sum of the series 
I, 2, 4, 8, etc., the number of terms being lo. Give 
the formula, and show how the problem is solved.’’ 

Norman stepped to the blackboard, recorded the 
problem, and began his work, while Lieutenant Bur- 
roughs trained his guns on the next man in the section. 
The recitation was in progress in a portion of a large 
hall in upper quarters, partitioned off by sail canvas 
from its neighbors; Congress having thus far proved 
just sufficiently awake to the defective accommoda- 
tions of the academy to condemn the old recitation 
building and prop up the armory, but not enough to 
provide new and adequate structures. 

On this particular morning Lat. Holmes ” was 
out of sorts. He had “ boned ” (studied) hard the 
night before, after an exhausting boat-drill, and possi- 
bly had taken a slight cold from a draught from the 
open window in his room; at any rate, he had a head- 
ache, and was in a mood for anything but mathematics. 
Lieutenant Burroughs was a firm disciplinarian, and 
pretty nearly worshipped the special branch in which 


UNDER A CLOUD. 


133 


he was instructor. A cadet might be forgiven, he 
thought, for failing to know the succession of English 
kings or the proper command to give when his ship 
was taken aback in a sudden squall, but to mistake 
geometrical for harmonical progression verged on 
criminal ignorance. 

Chalk in hand (and in eyes, too). Cadet Holmes 
stood before the board, slowly marshalling his ranks 
of algebraic signs: 

C ^ ~ ^ 

“ q-i ~ q- 1 

The figures turned and twisted themselves before 
his heavy eyes; his head throbbed sharply, and turning 
it aside a moment, he could not help seeing the work 
of his next neighbor, Rollins, who was working out a 
similar problem at his side. 

Before Norman could put down another figure the 
sharp voice of the instructor rang out : 

“ Mr. Holmes, you may take your seat, and remain 
after the section is dismissed!” 

Norman flushed hot and opened his lips to reply; 
then closed them firmly, and sullenly left the board, 
but not before he had seen the gleam of exultation 
in Pete's eyes. 

The recitation dragged slowly on. There were so 
few men in the section that attention could be and 
was given to every detail of the matter at hand, and 


134 


NAVY BLUE. 


the lieutenant was a thorough teacher. At last it 
was over. The cadets rose at command of Rollins, 
who was leader that week, and filed out. 

“ Now, Mr. Holmes,” said the instructor abruptly, 
closing the door, what have you to say for your- 
self? Apparently you were copying Mr. Rollins’ 
work.” 

Dead silence on Norman’s part. He was inwardly 
raging from the injustice of the accusation, but re- 
solved he would say not a word to exculpate himself. 

Perhaps the lieutenant had a headache, too. At 
any rate, there was an unusual severity in his tones 
as he repeated his question. 

“ What excuse have you, sir? ” 

No answer; and a look in the cadet’s eye that was 
hardly respectful. 

I order you to reply,” snapped out the instructor, 
now thoroughly vexed. 

You assume I am guilty, sir, when you ask for 
an ‘ excuse,’ ” said Norman, trying to control himself. 
“ I don’t see that there’s anything for me to say.” 

You will be reported for misconduct in the 
recitation-room,” said the angry lieutenant. “ You 
can go, sir! ” 

Norman rose and left the room without a word. 
He made his report, causing the kindly officer in 
charge to raise his eyebrows in wonder, but vouch- 
safed no explanation of his sullen manner. Burning 


UNDER A CLOUD. 


135 


with a sense of wrong, he took his place in the forma- 
tion just drawing up for the next recitation, and so 
got through the day. To make matters worse, he 
spoke crossly to some of his messmates and even to 
Dave when they rallied him on his sour looks at 
dinner. 

“ What’s the matter with Lat. ? ” asked one, spear- 
ing a potato as a dishful of that vegetable was passed 
over his shoulder by a colored waiter. Got a warn- 
ing from the supe? ” 

'' Oh, Lat.’s all right. That’s his happy look,” said 
another. 

Say, Holmes, pass it round, and let’s read it,” sang 
out a youngster from the end of the table. “ Is she 
very hard on you?” 

Even Dave laughed at this, for in Annie’s last let- 
ter to her brother there had been a gentle admoni- 
tion against “ scrapping,” which had amused both 
boys. 

But Norman was in no mood for joking. He re- 
torted angrily, and then returned to his sullen silence, 
while the other fellows made eyes at one another, but 
concluded to let him alone. He was too popular to 
be annoyed. 

No one knew how it started, but before the close 
of drills it was whispered about that Norman was in 
disgrace. At length the rumor materialized into con- 
crete form: 


36 


NAVY BLUE. 


“ Bobby has soaked Lat. Holmes in math, for 
gouging.^^ 

It seemed incredible, and Holmes’ immediate 
friends laughed the report to scorn. But it spread, 
nevertheless, aided by Rollins’ sneering shake of the 
head when it was mentioned in his presence. 

“ Wait till you see pap to-morrow morning,” said 
he disagreeably. “ If he isn’t down for five, we’ll 
know it’s all right with Holmes.” 

“ Pap ” is the daily conduct report, posted in the 
main corridor of upper quarters. 

At about six o’clock Norman entered his room, and 
without speaking to Dave, who looked his sympathy 
but hardly knew what to say, took down a book and 
buried himself in it. 

“ I’m going over to see Tickerson,” said Rexdale 
gently, getting his cap, after a few moments. Don’t 
feel bad. Norm. It’ll come out all right! ” 

Norman did not reply, and his room-mate went out. 
His steps had hardly died away when Rollins entered. 

Say, Holmes, the fellows want to know what’s 
up,” he began, throwing himself into the vacant 
chair. 

Norman looked his unwelcome visitor full in the 
face, and then deliberately turned his back upon him. 

There was silence for a moment; then a scratchy 
sound, followed by a pungent and unmistakable odor. 

“ What are you doing? ” exclaimed Norman as the 


Under a cloud. 


vile smell reached his nostrils. “ Put out that cigar- 
ette, Pete Rollins, or Pll do it for you! ” 

“What’s the matter with a quiet little fume?” 
asked Rollins, puffing away coolly. “ Take one 
yourself; it’ll do your head good, if that’s what’s the 
matter.” 

“ You know very well I don’t smoke, nor Rexdale 
either,” retorted Holmes angrily. “ I know what 
you’re up to, well enough. Pm in charge of the 
room this week, and you want to get me into trouble. 
Put that out, I say, or go out yourself! ” 

“ Oh, all right,” said Rollins in a contemptuous 
tone, but flushing, nevertheless, at having his inten- 
tions fathomed. “ Pll do both, if you’re so snappy.” 

Tossing the half-consumed cigarette out of the 
window, he sauntered away, leaving the room scented 
with the smoke. 

Five minutes later Dave returned. 

“Whew!” he exclaimed, sniffing. “You haven’t 
been — ! No, of course you haven’t! But the room 
smells awfully. Who’s been here? ” 

“ Oh, never mind,” said poor Norman bitterly. 
“ One of the fellows knows Pm down and he’s jump- 
ing on me — that’s all.” 

Having rushed to the transom and closed it, Dave 
flew about vigorously, fanning the tell-tale smoke out 
of the open windows, and doing his best to air the 
room without the aid of the transom, though that in 


138 NAVY BLUE. 

itself was a breach of rules. If a whiff of tobacco 
smoke should get into the corridor, he knew, however, 
it would be a far more serious thing than the tem- 
porary closing of the transom. 

“ I guess nobody’d notice it now,” he said encour- 
agingly, “ and the room’ll have a good chance to air 
while we are at mess.” 

But, alas, for human calculations! Of all unlucky 
times, the cadet in charge of the floor, who happened 
to be a stiff-necked, unpopular fellow, and one of the 
Rollins set, left his own room at that particular minute 
and started for the head of the stairs. 

At No. 89 he came to a sudden halt, and the hearts 
of the inmates sank. They could almost hear the 
sniff of the official nose. 

“ We’ve got to take it now,” said Dave resignedly, 
as with a preliminary rap the cadet in charge entered. 

'' Who’s been smoking here? ” he demanded. “ No 
need of asking why your transom’s closed,” he added 
with a sneer. Then referring to the tag on Norman’s 
wardrobe, “ Mr. Holmes, you’re in charge, I see. If 
you don’t choose to tell which of you has been smok- 
ing I shall report you for ^ room not in proper order ’ 
and ‘ smell of smoke.’ ” 

Both cadets had risen and saluted. Dave looked 
inquiringly at his room-mate, but would not disclaim 
smoking, lest he should throw all the blame on 
Holmes. The latter said nothing. 


UNDER A CLOUD. 


139 


“ Very well,” said the official with a pompous air, 
“ I shall turn in my report as I have said, and you 
can make any excuses you have to the commandant.” 

“ Now, Norm, tell who it was,” said Dave excitedly 
as soon as they were left alone in the room. “ If 
Rollins did it on purpose to get you into trouble, I 
won’t leave a whole bone in his body! ” 

Holmes shook his head moodily. ‘‘ Thanks, Rex- 
dale,” he said. “ It’s no use trying to defend myself. 
They’re bound to make me out a black sheep among 
’em, and I’ve got thirteen demerits sure, to-day.” 

“ But you can get some of them off. Norm! almost 
all of them if you appeal to the commandant.” 

“ No,” said Norman wearily, flinging himself down 
in the chair and burying his aching head in his hands. 
“ Don’t bother me, Dave; that’s a good fellow. Just 
let me alone.” 

''You’ve got a headache — I’m awfully sorry!” 
said Dave in a way that reminded Norman of his 
manner in lifting Hallie after the coaching accident. 
" Well, I won’t plague you with talking. To-morrow 
will straighten things out.” 

It was hard to take part in formation and evening 
roll-call a few minutes later and to face the battery 
of the mess-table, where all the fellows were not as 
considerate as Dave. The story of the cigarette, 
magnified into actual evidence that he had been dis- 
covered smoking a T. D. pipe, was all over the mess- 


140 


NAVY BLUE. 


room, and as this was considered a serious offence, 
curiosity was great to see what would come of it, and 
whether Holmes would be made an example to wrong- 
doers. Moreover, some one had circulated the report 
that the five demerits in math, would be given, ac- 
cording to schedule, to the cadet who had assisted 
Norman, and that a regular report of gouging ” had 
been handed in by “ Savvy Bob,” the instructor, thus 
involving, if the charge should be sustained, a record 
of a misdemeanor of the “ first class,” with one hun- 
dred demerits attached! 

“He’ll be Santeed!’^ whispered round, while 
others predicted actual dismissal. Tickerson, Staples, 
Saunders, and Rexdale stood out staunchly for Nor- 
man, and declared the whole business was a botch, 
and would be unravelled on the morrow to their ac- 
cused classmate’s credit. Rollins’ set, on the con- 
trary, professed entire distrust of Norman’s character, 
and went about with a “told you so! ” air that had 
weight with the weaker-minded plebes, and resulted 
in his being cut by two or three fellows of high stand- 
ing, before taps. “ Gouging ” meets with little mercy 
at the Naval Academy, and the mere accusation of 
being a sneak taboos a man in the best set of his class- 
mates. 

“ Where there’s smoke there must be fire,” has 
been the ruin of many a man, in school and out. 

Norman felt deeply the ostracism that was in the 


UJ^DER A CLOUD. 


I4I 

air that evening. Too proud to enter into explana- 
tions, he went to his room long before warning roll 
and nursed his troubles in bitter solitude. The accusa- 
tion of “ fuming,” he knew, would not hurt him 
materially in the estimation of the other cadets, how- 
ever serious a matter it might be considered by the 
authorities. Smoking was one thing, but gouging 
another. 

Knowing he was unjustly suspected, he hugged his 
wrongs to his heart and spent the evening miserably 
until taps brought darkness, silence, and at last sleep. 


CHAPTER XVL 


THE CLOUD BREAKS. 

When Norman awoke the next morning it was 
with a dull sense of some impending misfortune. In 
a moment came the recollection of the events of the 
preceding day, and it seemed to him as if he could 
not get up and face the music. 

Dave was already sitting on the side of the bed, 
putting on his boots. He looked over to his room- 
mate kindly and questioningly. 

“Feeling better this morning. Norm?” came his 
cheery tones. 

“Thanks, old fellow! Yes, my head’s all right 
now, I guess,” said Holmes, turning out. 

They talked of a coming fencing match as they 
dressed and of various academy matters, but neither 
of them spoke of what was nearest their hearts. 

On their way to formation two or three acquaint- 
ances passed them with a cool nod. Norman’s face 
began to assume its sullen expression of the day be- 
fore. At roll-call the conduct report was read, prior 
to being posted. The item came at last: “Cadet 


THE CLOUD BREAKS. 


143 


Holmes, for misconduct at recitation, five demerits; 
room smelling of tobacco, seven demerits; transom 
closed, one demerit.” 

The plebes drew long breaths, some of relief, some 
of disappointment. Rollins and his clique had sour 
faces when they realized that no penalt}^ was recorded 
for gouging; Norman’s friends were proportionately 
glad to have that issue avoided, to say the least. As 
to the lad himself, his heart was like a lump of lead 
and he felt a strange indifference to the result of the 
investigation that he felt would at once be made. 

The seven demerits alone, he knew, would deprive 
him of all recreation and privileges, and might banish 
him to the Santee for whatever period the superin- 
tendent might determine. 

As the cadets marched out from breakfast the 
officer of the day addressed Norman, who halted, but 
gave no other sign of his superior’s presence. 

“ You will salute, sir,” said the officer sharply after 
waiting a moment in surprise at the fourth classman’s 
negligence. 

Norman nodded and made a careless gesture. 
‘‘ What’s wanted now? ” he said in no respectful 
tones. 

The officer silently made a pencil note before he 
replied. 

“ You will report forthwith to the commandant of 
cadets, Mr. Holmes; and I am obliged to record a 


144 


NAVY BLUE. 


failure to salute and answer properly when addressed 
by the officer of the day.” 

The young officer was a good fellow, and looked 
pained as Norman turned abruptly on his heel with- 
out saluting and walked into the commandant’s office, 
removing his cap as he entered. 

The commandant finished a document he was pre- 
paring, and turned to the waiting cadet. 

“ Mr. Holmes,” he said, gravely but not severely, 
“ I am sorry to say you are reported for repeated mis- 
conduct, including a suspicion of obtaining unauthor- 
ized assistance in recitation, and smoking in your 
room. The former charge will not be pressed at pres- 
ent, as Lieutenant Burroughs feels that he may have 
been misled by appearances, and had acted hastily in 
the premises. One of your classmates, who is said to 
have been implicated, though innocently, will be ques- 
tioned further before the five demerits are made per- 
manent. As to the second charge,” the commandant 
continued, looking kindly but keenly at Norman, “ I 
confess I am reluctant to believe it possible that you 
or Mr. Rexdale deliberately violated one of the most 
stringent and well-known rules of the academy.” 

He paused as if for an explanation, though any 
statement from a cadet seeking to excuse or exculpate 
himself should have been reduced to writing and 
placed in the officer’s box. 

Norman was silent. 


THE CLOUD BREAKS. 


145 


“ Then I must ask you plainly, sir, to state the 
circumstances under which your room became scented 
with tobacco smoke.” 

Still Norman said nothing. 

I understand your silence if it affects the standing 
of another cadet. Am I to assume that it does so?” 

“ I — I prefer not to say anything about it, sir,” said 
Norman in a low voice. 

“ You are aware that under the circumstances your 
refusal to speak will be construed as disobedience of 
orders?” demanded Captain R. more sternly. 

Norman bowed. A few words would have cleared 
the matter up, he knew, but partly through a mis- 
taken sense of honor, partly from obstinate pride, he 
would say nothing. 

“ I am obliged to order you to your room, which 
you will not leave, save to attend religious services, 
recitations, meals, and drills,” said the commandant. 
“ I must add,” he concluded sadly, “ that I am dis- 
appointed and grieved at the stand you have taken.” 

He touched a bell as Norman withdrew, and sum- 
moned an orderly. 

“ Find Mr. Rexdale, fourth class, second division, 
and send him to me at once.” 

Dave soon appeared, and saluted respectfully, won- 
dering what new turn affairs had taken. 

“ Mr. Rexdale, pending an investigation against 

your room-mate, you will occupy No. 76, on the same 
10 


146 


NAVY BLUE. 


floor. You will not be deprived of recreation, but I 
must tell you that in the principal charge against 
Cadet Holmes relating to the condition of the quarters 
you have occupied in common, you yourself are in a 
measure involved. I shall be glad to hear anything 
you have to say.” 

Dave saw no reason for concealing the facts as far 
as he knew them, and accordingly gave an exact 
account of his return to the room and of Norman’s 
attitude at the time. 

“ I beg your pardon, sir,” he added earnestly, “ but 
I’m sure Mr. Holmes had not been smoking. I knew 
him before we entered the academy, and he has never 
touched tobacco in any form. He had a headache 
yesterday, and ” 

‘‘ Ah,” interrupted Captain R., that may bear 
on his manner in recitation. Lieutenant Burroughs 
spoke of his listless appearance when at the board.” 

“ That’s it, sir,” said Dave, eager to defend his 
chum. “ I know he didn’t copy that problem. He 
showed me how to work it out the night before. I 
believe it was R .” He brought himself up sud- 

denly. It was no part of his intent to bring another 
man into the scrape unless forced to do so. 

The commandant, who was accustomed to reading 
the cadets under his charge like so many open vol- 
umes bound in blue, smiled and did not press his 
inquiries further. ‘ He knew perfectly well who had 


THE CLOUD BREAKS. 


147 


stood next to Holmes at the board, and he was aware, 
too, in some mysterious way, of the feeling existing 
between the two St. Botolph men. 

“That will do, Mr. Rexdale; you will remove to 
your temporary quarters at once,” he said, turning 
back to his documents. 

Whatever investigations were on foot that day were 
pursued without stir among the cadets. They came 
and went as usual, and the instructors took no notice 
of the affair of the preceding day. Norman was In a 
large degree isolated from his fellows, and felt his 
disgrace keenly, even a sense of martyrdom failing 
to keep up his spirits when Dave proceeded to re- 
move his clothing and books from the room. 

At evening roll-call a crisis came. The charge 
against Norman was once more read aloud, and every 
man was individually questioned as to his participa- 
tion in the affair. 

No new light was thrown upon the case by this 
course. Each cadet, on being asked by the ojhcer in 
charge, “ Did you smoke in Room 89 at any time yes- 
terday? ” promptly replied, “ No, sir! ” The battalion 
was accordingly marched in to supper, and the affair, 
it seemed, was dropped by the authorities. 

This, however, was not the fact. Several cases of 
cigarette-smoking had been discovered of late with- 
out the detection of the offenders. Captain R. and 
the superintendent were determined to put an end to 


148 


JVAFV BLUE. 


this flagrant breach of discipline, once for all, if it 
were possible. Eyes and ears — not to say nostrils — 
were open, and every cadet had to pass under keenest 
scrutiny, both in his room and on his way to and from 
regular exercises. So several days went by, yet no 
discovery was announced. The commandant was 
loath to resort to the extreme measure of searching 
the rooms, and bided his time. 

About a week after the Holmes affair a section 
of fourth-class men were passing through the entrance 
hall of upper quarters on their way to recitation, when 
the officer in charge, who was inspecting them, caught 
sight of a small, rectagonal protuberance bulging out 
the pocket of Cadet Rollins. Without warning he 
stepped up to the lad, thrust his hand into his pocket, 
and drew forth — a square box of cigarettes! 

Rollins turned red to the roots of his hair, and his 
knees seemed fairly to tremble under him. 

“ I — I picked that up in the grounds, sir,” he stam- 
mered. I was going to hand it over to the officer 
of the day.” 

“ That will do, Rollins. You will attend recitation,” 
said the officer in charge curtly. 

It was the last recitation of the day. Immediately 
after it came the outdoor exercises, which never before 
had seemed so long. As soon as battalion drill was 
over, Rollins hurried to his room, and with trembling 
hand wrote the following epistle: 


THE CLOUD BREAKS, 


149 

U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. 

December 3, 189-. 

“ Sir : 

“ I have the honor to state in regard to the finding of a box of 
cigarettes in my pocket this afternoon, that I found that box lying 
on the grass near the east end of the grounds while on my way 
from the Seamanship building to upper quarters. I did not know to 
whom they belonged, but fully intended to deliver them to the 
officer of the day, but something took up my attention, and I forgot 
them. I never smoke myself, so they could be of no use to me, 
and I know nothing whatever about them. 

“ Very respectfully, 

“ Peter S. Rollins, 

“ Naval Cadet, 4th Class. 

“ The Commandant of Cadets.” 

By the regulation governing such a presentation 
of excuse the letter should have been deposited in 
the commandant’s box, but Rollins was afraid that 
action might be taken before his statement was re- 
ceived and read. He therefore presented himself in 
Captain R.’s office just before evening roll-call, and 
laid the envelope on his desk. 

That night the high officials of the academy held a 
private council, as a result of which Rollins, Rexdale, 
Holmes, and “ Bell ” Whittaker, together with the 
cadets who had served as officer of the day and cadet 
in charge of the third floor on the day of Norman’s 
disgrace, were summoned the next evening before an 
investigating committee consisting of the superin- 


NAVY BLUE. 


150 

tendent, commandant, officer in charge, Lieutenant 
Burroughs, and one or two other officials. 

Rollins persisted in his version of the story, deny- 
ing not only smoking, but any visit to Holmes’ room 
on the afternoon in question. 

Whittaker was then called, and though evidently 
testifying with the greatest reluctance, identified a 
cigarette stub which he had found on the walk just 
in the rear of one wing of upper quarters. The officer 
in charge had insisted on being shown the exact spot 
where the stub had lain, and now testified that it was 
in a direct line with the window of the room occupied 
by Rollins. 

“ Somebody put it there on purpose ” began the 

culprit; but he was sternly suppressed while the in- 
vestigation proceeded. 

The officer in charge here produced a second cigar- 
ette, which had plainly gone out soon after it was 
lighted. This he himself had discovered under Nor- 
man’s window on the very evening the trouble arose. 

The commandant thereupon took the tell-tale box 
from a drawer, and the stubs were compared with 
the whole cigarettes. They were of the same make 
— a peculiar Turkish brand, with characters in gilt 
lettering. 

At this Rollins broke down and confessed his guilt. 
He pleaded for mercy on the ground that it was his 
first offence; that, as they could see, only half a dozen 


THE CLOUD BREAKS. 


151 

cigarettes had been taken from the box and smoked; 
that he never would touch one again. 

The cadets present were deeply moved by his en- 
treaties, and Norman would have taken his part, but 
at the first word he was checked by a gesture of the 
superintendent. 

“ This is an exceedingly grave matter,” he said, 
turning to his subordinates. “ It has gone beyond the 
offence of breaking the rule against smoking. The 
academy cannot tolerate a liar. The first oral false- 
hood, told under sudden pressure and in the fear of 
disgrace before the whole corps who were present at 
formation, might be passed over with only the in- 
fliction of a severe penalty and a suspension from 
privilege, but the deliberate written statement which 
was personally handed to the commandant of cadets 
by the accused, and which solemnly denies the main 
facts which have here been proved, has no such ex- 
cuse. The offence is aggravated by the fact that 
odium appears to have been intentionally brought 
upon a classmate, whose case we shall shortly con- 
sider. Cadet Rollins, you will consider yourself under 
arrest, and will be conducted by an orderly to quarters 
in the Santee, where you will be detained until your 
case is passed upon by the Secretary of the Navy. 
The other cadets may retire.” 

The matter was duly reported to the department at 
Washington, with certified copies of the proceedings 


152 


NAVY BLUE. 


and evidence in the case. A court-martial was at 
once ordered by the Secretary, resulting in a unani- 
mous verdict of “ Guilty.” Rollins was, upon the 
recommendation of the court, dismissed from the 
Naval Academy, without possibility of reappointment. 

As soon as the order arrived at Annapolis the dis- 
graced cadet’s civilian clothes were restored to him, 
and he was released from confinement and conducted 
to the gates, passing through which he turned his 
back upon the academy forever. 

That night he started northward, and the next day, 
broken and repentant, arrived at his home in St. Bo- 
tolph. I am glad to add that he turned over a new 
leaf, and profiting by his studies in preparation for 
the academy and during his brief stay there, he en- 
tered the Institute of Technology the following sum- 
mer, and bids fair to win tolerable success as a mining 
engineer in the West. ' 

Soon after these events Holmes had a long inter- 
view with the chaplain, who had taken the lad’s down- 
fall greatly to heart. What occurred behind those 
closed doors few will ever know; but during a leave 
of absence which Norman spent at home two or three 
years afterward, he confessed to Hallie that he was 
touched by the chaplain’s kindness and solicitude, 
and broke down and cried, big fellow as he was! 

The upshot of it all was that, having made his peace 
with the commandant, he was restored, with Dave, to 


THE CLOUD BREAKS. 


153 


his room and privileges, but the demerits, while those 
for causes originally stated were cancelled, were 
nevertheless increased to twenty-five in all for dis- 
obedience of orders in refusing to testify. Perhaps 
the cadets, and even the naval officers, held him in no 
less esteem for this; but discipline must be maintained, 
and the demerits were plainly deserved, under the 
regulations. 

So passed December with its storms and calms, 
and the new year opened. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


HARD WORK. 

While the interest of the cadets was more or less 
taken up, as we have seen, with athletics, hops, and a 
few minor incidents and irregularities of conduct, the 
main business of the hour, morning, noon, and night, 
each man knew in his boots,” as Tel. Staples ex- 
pressed it, that a number of members of the class were 
almost certain to drop, or “ bilge,” at the end of the 
term. It was hardly likely that the experience of the 
present class of plebes would differ materially from 
that of their predecessors, though the men, one and 
all, stoutly asserted that a new era was inaugurated 
with their entrance into the academic lists. 

Day by day the recitation marks rolled up; month 
by month the examinations in the various branches 
told their story as the semi-annual test drew near. 
Norman’s entrance papers had placed him several 
notches above Dave, the Latin School drill telling 
heavily against the desultory teaching of the Granite 
District; but Farmer ” was a hard worker, and 
gained steadily on his more brilliant room-mate as the 
weeks went by. 


HARD WORK. 


155 


In the conduct roll Norman’s twenty-five demerits 
put him considerably below Dave, though the latter’s 
own record was not perfect. 

Every recitation was marked on a scale of tenths, 
from o to 4, the maximum. As 2.5 was the minimum 
which cadets could receive and be sure of remain- 
ing in the academy, it may be imagined with what 
anxiety they endeavored to keep off that fatal lee 
shore whose breakers some could hear through the 
fog, perilously near, as the term advanced. 

In obtaining the final mark for a term half 
year), the mean of the final monthly marks, multiplied 
by 3, was added to the mark received at the examina- 
tion, and the sum divided by 4. The operation may 
be expressed by this formula; letting e = the mark 
at the semi-annual examination, and t the average of 
the monthly examination marks, while T = the final 
mark desired: 


1 = . 

4 

Sandy, after knitting his brows for a while, in the 
early days of plebedom simplified the whole matter 
by putting it in the form of a prescription : 

“ Take three parts monthly ex. marks, the meanest 
kind; mix with one part semi-annual agony; shake 
well, and label ‘ Misery ’ or ' Bliss,’ according to 
whether or not the dose comes up to the two-five 


156 


NAVY BLUE. 


Standard! ‘ t,’ ” he added sagely, '' stands for Toad- 
stool. The only way you can tell whether it’s a Mush- 
room is by taking it, and seeing whether you die or 
not.” 

Another important factor in determining rank, it 
should be remembered, was the daily drill. To under- 
stand what variety of exercise and proficiency was 
required let us glance at the table of drills posted for 
the first three months of Norman’s academy course. 


FOURTH CLASS. 


Academic 

months. 

Week 
ending — 

First 

Division. 

Second 

Division. 

Third 

Division. 

Fourth 

Division. 

Oct . . 

3 

Company. 

Boats. 

Artillery. 

Boats. 




Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 


lO 

Artillery. 

Boats. 

Company. 

Boats. 




Battery drill. 


Battery drill. 


17 

Boats. 

Company. 

Boats. 

Artillery. 



Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 



24 

Boats. 

Artillery. 

Boats. 

Company. 



Battery drill. 


Battery drill. 




Battalion 

Battalion 

Battalion 

Battalion 


31^ 

infantry. 

infantry. 

infantry. 

infantry. 

Nov . 

7 

Seamanship. 

Seamanship. 

Seamanship. 

Seamanship. 



Seamanship. 

Seamanship. 

Seamanship. 

Seamanship. 



Battalion 

Battalion 

Battalion 

Battalion 



artillery. 

artillery. 

artillery. 

artillery. 


28 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 




Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 

Dec. . 

S 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 




Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 


12 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 



Seamanship, 


Seamanship. 



19 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 



Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 



26 

No drills. 




Jan .. 

2 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 




Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 


9 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 




Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 


16 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 



Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 



23 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 

Dancing. 

Gymnastics. 



Seamanship. 


Seamanship. 



30 

Semi-annual examination. [No drills.] 




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WORK. 


57 


In seamanship we have seen that Dave advanced 
rapidly. Instruction was given not only on the 
Monongahela and Santee, but in the Seamanship build- 
ing, where there were many pieces of apparatus, in- 
cluding the working model of a full-rigged ship, forty- 
one feet long. Here the cadets of the various classes 
studied knotting and splicing; compass and lead line; 
ship nomenclature; cutting and fitting hemp rigging; 
cutting and fitting wire rigging; rowing, and the man- 
agement of boats under oars and under sail; sailmak- 
ing; making up, bending, unbending, and handling 
sails; rigging ship; stripping ship; shifting spars; get- 
ting under way and anchoring; evolutions with vessels 
under sail and under steam; signalling, army and navy 
code; management of steam launches; and steam 
fleet tactics with steam launches. 

The gun drills were an especial delight to Dave, 
whose blood tingled as the huge pieces of ordnance 
roared out their greetings to their young masters 
and their shot tore up the waters of the Severn around 
the floating targets. Norman, on the other hand, 
evinced a special aptitude for the more scientific side 
of naval service, in spite of the martial ardor he had 
felt on the battleship months before. His whole 
tendency was, like that of Staples and a few others 
in the class, toward the engineer corps, though the 
studies for all, at this period of their course, were the 


same. 


58 


ATAFV BLUE, 


He still, however, retained his interest in military 
evolutions. It was a decided change from the cap- 
taincy of Company A in the Latin School battalion 
to a private’s position in the rear rank of his com- 
pany in the Naval Academy battalion; but he accepted 
his unavoidable degradation to the ranks with a good 
grace, and drilled his best, soon attracting attention 
and commendation from his superiors, as we have 
seen. 

The cadet-lieutenant commanding his company was 
a fine, tall fellow named Catlin. He had resolved that 
his command should win the prize colors awarded 
each June and held one year by the successful com- 
pany. More than once Catlin told off an awkward 
squad of three or four men, to be put through the 
elementary tactics, “ setting up,” and the manual of 
arms, by Norman, who was well used to the busi- 
ness. 

Perhaps the awkwardest man in the battalion was 
the long-limbed Californian plebe, whose presence in 
the “ collateral squad ” was frequent. 

‘‘Carry — arms!” Norman would command, per- 
forming the movement with his own piece. 

“ Right-shoulder — arms I ” 

“ Carry — arms! ” 

“ Order — arms ! ” 

Down would come Staples’ musket, just grazing 
the shoe-leather of the man beside him, who imme- 


IVOJiK. 


159 

diately hopped on one foot to express rather what 
might have been than actually was. 

“Steady!” Norman would call out, his mouth 
twitching. “ Mr. Staples, be more careful with your 
piece, if you please.” 

“ Beg your pardon, sir; it was quite accidental on 
my part,” Staples would explain politely. “ Benning- 
ton’s foot almost touched mine, and the gun had to 
come down somewhere.” 

“No talking, there! ” would come the warning from 
the nearest petty officer, and Holmes, who had hard 
work to keep his face straight — though Staples was 
sober as a judge — would proceed with the manual. 

Sword exercise did not begin until cold weather, 
but after the first drill, the “ Un — Deux — Trois!” of 
the French sword-master became familiar sounds in 
the ears of the new cadets. 

Norman saw in these days as never before the 
wisdom of the establishment of the academy in this 
special latitude. The outdoor exercises are all of 
great importance, and a mild climate with little bad 
weather for several successive months is necessary to 
complete the instruction. October, November, most 
of December, March, April, and May are devoted to 
these drills, and the weather during these periods is 
usually mild and fair in Annapolis, while in a northern 
climate the cold and inclement weather would render 
such outdoor exercise impossible for a large portion 


i6o 


NAVY BLUE. 


of the academic year. The drills are always held in 
the armory or elsewhere under cover during (a part 
of) December, January, February, and a part of 
March, as well as on stormy days in the earlier and 
later months. The summer, which would be uncom- 
fortably hot in Maryland, is spent by most of the 
cadets afloat on the annual cruise across the Atlantic 
or along the northern seaboard. 

Well, the semi-annuals came at last, and the final 
week of January was devoted to them. The fourth 
class emerged as from a sea-fight, with a gloomy list 
of lost and wounded, but with the survivors all the 
more self-reliant for the fray and the more determined 
to complete their course with honor to themselves and 
the academy. 

In the ranks of the latter were all our friends, the 
inseparable quartette, or, with Staples, who was now 
reckoned one of them, quintette. A fair idea of gen- 
eral standing was at the same time obtained. Norman 
was seventh in the class, and Dave was tenth, with 
the next man only slightly ahead of him. 

Studies were entered into with more zeal than ever 
as the shores of youngsterdom loomed up dimly be- 
fore the battle-scarred plebes; and in March came the 
athletic tournament and baseball. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


ONE TO NOTHING. 

The buds on the elms swelled in the warm March 
rains and early April sunshine; a tinge of bright green 
enlivened the plots of turf between Love Lane and 
Youngsters’ Walk; feathered visitors, some in regula- 
tion blue uniforms, some in ruddy coats like the 
Britishers of old, sounded their calls among the 
branches, and marshalled their sections like the blue- 
coated cadets beneath — with this exception, that on 
this upper floor ” no leader or officer in charge in- 
terfered to check talking in the ranks or condemn a 
careless adjustment of uniforms, which, indeed, were 
beyond criticism save directly after the morning bath 
in rain-pool or rivulet. 

While birds and flowers and opening buds did not 
form the staple of conversation among the academy 
plebes at mess-table or along the corridors in recrea- 
tion hours, the men, being young and healthy and 
clean-minded, undoubtedly thought of these things, 
and mentioned them in their letters mother and 
sister-ward. Ah, these mothers and sisters — includ- 


II 


NAVY BLUE. 


162 

ing your chum’s sister! How they foster and draw 
out the sweetest and gentlest and best that is in us 
rough fellows, who hide our tenderer sentiments 
under a hlue coat or a bluff exterior! The most 
manly man, like the divine Carpenter of Nazareth, is 
in his heart the most womanly. 

Opportunities for work budded and sprang forth 
in the early months of the year like the elm leaves 
at the touch of spring. Drills now included skirmish 
and landing parties and battery exercise. The cadets 
served the guns or wielded the oars with a will as 
they left the recitation-rooms, glad to get into the 
open air and “ let go ” their arms and legs. 

On every Wednesday afternoon there was a fire- 
drill in the quarters, bringing every man into active 
service with hose, bucket, or plug. 

In April a great fencing tournament took place, 
where “ Dumb ” Whittaker let his foil speak for him, 
and covered himself with glory by “ touching ” Har- 
vard and Columbia for many points. 

Then came boat-races: contests between divisions, 
represented by crews in launch, cutter, and catboat; 
some under sail, others under oars. 

Of all the athletic departments, Dave Rexdale was 
most interested in baseball. Previously there had 
been no regular plebe team, but Dave hustled about, 
and succeeded in organizing a nine, himself playing 
centre-field (and captain). A game was arranged 


ONE ro NOTHING. 16 ^ 

with the youngster team for a Saturday afternoon 
early in May. 

The two nines duly appeared on the field, and after 
a little preliminary practice settled down to the game. 
The batteries on both sides were proficient in their 
respective positions, the pitcher of the older men hav- 
ing a puzzling drop delivery and perhaps slightly out- 
classing his opponent. 

No runs on either side during the first three innings. 

Plebes in, two men out, Tickerson at the bat. 
“ Girlie ” was handicapped by his diminutive stature 
in some of the sports, but he was a fine short-stop 
and a good batter. 

Strike, one I ” called the umpire, a first-class man, 
as the ball whizzed past the striker. 

The little fellow waited calmly, while the opposing 
pitcher glared at him with fire in his eye. 

“ Strike, two I ” 

The crowd of youngsters present gave vent to 
vociferous shouts. The class yell had not yet been 
chosen — or composed, rather — and it was each man 
for himself. 

Girlie planted his feet a little more firmly in the 
hollows worn by previous batsmen in the clayey soil. 

Scott, the pitcher, drew himself up, waved his arms 
over his head, and let the ball go like lightning, but 
with its most seductive drop. 

Crack! came the clear, resonant blow of willow on 


164 


NAVY BLUE. 


pigskin that betokens a clean hit. Away went the 
ball over the head of the third baseman and just inside 
the foul line; away went Tickerson, his legs flying like 
a mist under him. As he neared second base Dave, 
who was coaching on the lines, saw the danger, and 
shrieked “ Slide, Girlie! Slide! ” 

Tickerson’s feet shot out in front of him, reaching 
the bag just ahead of the . low-thrown ball. The 
second baseman made a good stop, but lost his bal- 
ance and went down, head over heels, upon the pros- 
trate runner, while the ball rolled away through the 
grass. 

In an instant Girlie, covered with clay, was on his 
feet and off like a deer for third base, while the centre- 
field rushed forward, caught up the ball and hurled it 
wildly in the same direction. It flew through the air 
fully twelve feet above the ground, and the baseman 
being only six-feet-one,was unable to touch it, though, 
as Sandy approvingly remarked as soon as he could 
make himself heard, “ he climbed well for it.” 

In came Tickerson, and a moment later crossed the 
plate, scoring the first run in the game amid a tumult 
of cheers from his classmates. There was some dis- 
cussion whether it should be allowed as a homer,” 
but it was finally so recorded as Girlie, panting, 
brushed the dirt from his uniform. 

The inning closed without further incident, and the 
score stood i to o, in favor of the plebes. Their hopes 


ONE TO NOTHING. 


165 


were almost immediately dashed, however, by a fine 
two-base hit on the part of the first youngster who 
came to the bat. Two minutes later he and the next 
man were simultaneously retired on a double play, 
followed by a third out on strikes. 

When the plebes came in from the field it was 
evident that their blood was up, and the crowd ex- 
pected to see them score again. Instead of this every 
man of the three who picked up his bat was struck out 
by the redoubtable Scott. 

“ Great Scott! ” exclaimed Sandy as the nine 
wended their way to their positions once more. Then 
his emotions became too deep for utterance, and he 
subsided. 

Inning after inning followed without a change 
of score, until it was the last half of the ninth, with the 
youngsters at the bat, ready to do or die. 

It was Scott himself who opened the fun with a 
clean hit for one base; and the players had to pause 
for the uproar to quiet down. 

The second man popped up a fly over the catcher's 
head. Off went the mask as the player, running a 
little from his position, held up his hands for an easy 
out. Scott, meanwhile, danced up and down on the 
line between first and second, but did not dare to run 
lest the ball should be caught. The air was filled with 
shouts from a hundred self-appointed coachers : 

‘‘Run, Scott! “Take second!’^ “Lookout! Look 


J\rAVY BLUE, 


1 66 


out! Go! Go!” These last cries in a frenzy from 
the youngsters as the plebe catcher squarely muffed 
the ball. 

Too late! The pitcher was lingering near, like 
Mary’s lamb, and had the ball almost the instant it 
touched the ground. Turning swiftly in his tracks, 
he lined it like a cannon ball to second, where Scott 
was forced by a good six feet. 

One out, man on first; score, i to o. 

The pitcher, a Kansas man named “ Jack ” Moles- 
worth, was nervous, and had the next two balls called. 

“Brace up. Jack! Put ’em over! Don’t let him 
rattle you ! ” came a medley of cries from the side 
lines. 

“Steady, old fellow! Take your time!” sung out 
Rexdale. 

In spite of these friendly warnings the next ball was 
wild. The runner, who had been cutting up all sorts 
of capers at first base, saw his chance, and stole second 
before the ball could be regained and thrown. 

Molesworth set his lips firmly together, and with a 
glance at second to keep the youngster in order, sent 
an out-shoot just near enough to the plate to fool the 
striker, who was over-confident. He barely reached 
the ball, and knocked it, spinning, backward and side- 
ways. Catcher and first baseman both started for it, 
and only a timely shout from Captain Rexdale averted 
a collision as the baseman made a fine catch. 


ONE TO NOTHING. 


167 


“ Foul — outl ” called the umpire. 

Two out, man on second, and a powerful striker at 
the bat. 

Two balls and a strike were called amid breathless 
silence, the excitement being too great for exultation 
or mourning over these lesser incidents. 

“ Strike — two! ’’ Then, indeed, the plebes indicated 
that they were gratified at the turn affairs were taking. 
One more strike, well handled, and the game would 
be theirs I Shrieks and catcalls split the air, while the 
first-class men, carried away by the enthusiasm of the 
occasion, unexpectedly gave new courage to the 

infantry ” by joining in with the sonorous academy 
yell: 

Rah ! Rah ! Rah ! 

^^Hi! Ho! Ha! 

U. S. N. A.! 

“ Boom ! Sis ! Bah ! 

Navy! 

“ Three balls ” were called, and now it all depended 
on the next ball delivered. A strike or put-out meant 
victory for the plebes; a long, safe hit would tie the 
score and possibly bring in the winning run for the 
youngsters. 

Silence so deep that, as Tel. Staples said afterward, 
you could have heard a whole paper of pins drop. 


i68 


NAVY BLUE. 


But what does this wild howl of ecstatic triumph 
mean? Where is the ball? It has met the bat 
squarely and is a mere dot in the air, soaring far over 
the centre-field, while the advance runner tears over 
the lines to the home-plate, the striker circles the bases 
after him, and every third-class man in sight screams 
himself hoarse. 

Suddenly the outcries cease, as if by magic. What 
is Rexdale doing? 

The moment the ball was struck, Dave, with the 
marvellous eye-training of a good outfielder, “ plotted 
its curve,’^ and saw that it was going over his head. 
Turning his back on the crowd, he ran like mad for 
twenty paces in the direction pursued by the ball. 
Whirling about once more, he leaped into the air, 
sideways and backward, with one hand far out- 
stretched. 

The ball struck it and clung to the glove, while the 
fielder turned a complete backward somersault, com- 
ing up with the ball still clutched firmly in his left 
hand ! 

Game finished. Score, i to o, in favor of fourth 
class. 

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! The spectators swarm 
over the field. Dave, grimed and perspiring, is caught 
up on the shoulders of his classmates, patted, hugged, 
cheered, till he is the color of a Jacqueminot. Will 
ever triumph in after-life be quite as sweet as this? 



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ONE TO NOTHING. jgg 

Certainly applause can never be more sincere or 
vociferous. 

The class are sadly impeded in the expression of 
their joy by impossibility of concerted vocal action. 
They are a band of Pawnees, a menagerie let loose 
in a thunder-storm, until, under cover of their whilom 
dignified spectators, they join in the old yell as it rolls 
out once more and dies away over the waters of the 
Severn, rosy in the sunset light — 

Rah ! Rah ! Rah ! 

Hi ! Ho ! Ha ! 

U. S. N AJ 
Boom ! Sis / Bah / 

“Navee— 


CHAPTER XIX. 


THE END OF THE TERM. 

Among the spectators at the more important ath- 
letic events, as well as at an occasional boat-drill or 
parade, Miss Grace Lee was pretty sure to be a 
prominent figure. She took a great interest in out- 
door sports and was herself an enthusiastic golf- 
player. While she had numerous acquaintances 
among the upper-class men, she remained loyal to her 
plebe friends, often dancing with them at the hops, 
accepting their escort on the grounds, and, with Mrs. 
Lee, entertaining them at her house. 

Miss Franklin, her friend, who was visiting her in 
November, returned to New York for the winter, but 
was again seen in Annapolis when the birds began to 
sing. Sandy’s cadet friends claimed that he was in a 
dreadful state of mind regarding the two girls, being 
unable to decide which he liked best; and “ How 
happy I’d be with either! ” became a favorite song 
‘when that young gentleman appeared in public. 

Girlie Tickerson was a regular caller at their An- 
napolis home, his musical tastes furnishing an ex- 


THE END OF THE TERM. 


haustless topic of conversation with Grace, and oppor- 
tunity for mutual enjoyment at the piano. 

“ Sandy’s made a requisition on the storekeeper 
for a jew’s-harp,” drawled Staples one day as the un- 
conscious plebe approached. “ Going to learn to play 
on one instrument or die in the attempt! ” 

Saunders looked up innocently at the laugh. 

Glad you fellows are happy,” he said good- 
naturedly. “ What’s the joke? Am I on the tree for 
Skinny, as usual? ” 

The “ tree ” is the list of unsatisfactory recitations 
posted each week. 

“ No, but there’s where your harp will hang when 
Girlie biffs the Fifth Sonata with Somebody next 
Saturday night ! ” 

“ Well,” remarked Saunders, skipping a stone into 
the river, “I’m not much on sonatas, I’ll admit; it 
takes an ^ opus ’ to bring out my staying qualities at 
the piano. What d’ye mean by ' harp,’ Jack? ” 

“ Speaking of harps,” interrupted another, without 
satisfying Sandy’s curiosity, “Girlie’s using his fingers 
all up stopping hot liners. Farmer ought to order him 
out of the nine, or Sandy’ll get ahead of him.” 

There was another laugh at this, and Saunders, 
whose equanimity was impregnable, saw that his well- 
known visits to No. — , Main Street, had been the 
subject of remark, as usual. 

“Oh, if that^s what you’re harping on!” said he. 


172 


JVAFV BLUE, 


I don’t need any piano-playing to help me out in 
calling. I’m always ” 

“ Looking out for a Lee shore! ” sung out a joker. 

The other gave him a good-natured push, and the 
group moved on, passing the chaplain and touching 
their caps respectfully as they did so. 

The track tournament succeeded the baseball fever, 
and toward the very end of the term came a long- 
remembered eight-oar boat-race, in which the acad- 
emy defeated a strong crew of Naval Reserves for the 
first time. 

The first week in June was to be almost entirely 
devoted to the annual examinations, even more 
dreaded and conclusive than the mid-year. Just 
beyond the tossing waters could be seen the fair haven 
of youngsterdom, with “ June week ” in near per- 
spective. 

New faces, meanwhile, were seen in the grounds 
and on the Santee. The May entrance examinations 
had come and gone, and lo! a promising crop of 
‘‘ functions,” as the successful candidates are called 
until graduation day, when they become f)lebes. The 
present fourth class looked upon these innocents with 
the gravely experienced air of a six-hour-old chick 
regarding the struggles of a younger brother to free 
himself from the fragments of shell which betray his 
recent arrival in the bustling world. 

Among them Norman saw a face one day that 


THE END OF THE TERM, 


173 

seemed familiar, though he could not identify the 
young fellow. 

The latter approached him and rather bashfully held 
out his hand. 

“ You don’t remember me, I guess? ” he said. “ I 
met you in Annapolis last September, after I’d bilged 
in the exam. I was feeling pretty bad about it, and 
you said ” 

“ Dobson ! ” suddenly exclaimed Holmes, grasping 
the outstretched hand. “ I remember you now well 
enough. So you’re in all right this time! ” 

‘‘ Yes,” said Dobson, beaming at him with a sus- 
picion of moisture in his boyish eyes. “ What you 
said that day sort of put heart into me. Father took 
it pretty bad, just as I said he would, but I promised 
him I’d pass in May. I studied with all my might, 
and — here I am I ” 

'‘Right side up!” said Norman. "Awfully glad 
you’ve hit it, Dobson. Let me know if there’s any- 
thing I can do for you. You’re on the SanteCy I 
suppose? ” 

" Yes,” said the “ function,” rubbing his head rue- 
fully; " I’ve got a bump yet, where I sized up the 
deck-timbers over my hammock the first night. 
Good-by, sir! ” and he hurried off with the zeal of a 
newcomer. 

The " sir ” sounded oddly in Norman’s ears. It 
was the very first he had heard from a lower-class 


174 


NAVY BLUE. 


man, and, indeed, he had no right to it now, as he 
was himself still a plebe. But it made him realize 
that the first year was practically over, and that one 
quarter of his shore-going life in the academy was 
behind him. 

At about this time he received a letter from home 
which gave him great delight, and, strange to say, a 
queer, fluttering kind of feeling around the heart. 

“ My dear boy” [his mother wrote], “ I have planned a surprise 
for you, which there is no need of keeping a secret any longer, for I 
want you to have the pleasure of anticipation for a fortnight. I have 
invited Annie Rexdale to join Hallie and myself in a little trip to 
Maryland, and to spend a week in June at Annapolis 1 I know you 
will see us at home in September, on the return from your cruise ; 
but I can’t wait till then, and the two girls are wild over the thought 
of going. Annie has just graduated with honor from the Granite 
High School, and she means to spend next year in preparation for 
teaching at the State Normal School in Salem, so we shall see her 
often, I hope. Please engage rooms for us at the ‘ Maryland ’ for 
the second. You do not know how I am looking forward to seeing 
you ! You have had your mind taken up with new sights, experi- 
ences, and duties, but Hallie and I have just been living our same 
quiet life, you see, in St. Botolph. Since your father left us I have 
learned to lean on you a great deal, my boy. You must realize, 
more and more, that you have his place to fill. I know the thought 
will be an inspiration to you, and that your mother will never trust 
in vain. 

“ Hallie has been much taken up with her music this winter. 
She ,” etc., etc. 

Here Mrs. Holmes went into a rehearsal of domes- 


THE END OF THE TERM. 


175 

tic details, all of which interested Norman, but which 
we need not copy. 

He sought Rexdale at once, and found that he had 
just heard the news from his sister. 

“ Annie writes that they expect to arrive on the 
second,” he said gleefully. “ Do you suppose we can 
get leave to meet them and get them settled at the 
hotel?” 

“ Of course we can. Oh, Dave, suppose we 
shouldn’t knock that 2.5! ” 

“ Nonsense, Norm! That sounds like your talk 
when we came to Annapolis last September. We’re 
all right; and look here. I’m going to run you hard 
for rank, old fellow! ” 

Norman laughed and said it would do him good to 
see Dave’s name above his own in the list. At the 
same time he had his misgivings. 

Several of the cadets in the class were practically 
certain of dropping, and most of these said they were 
glad of it. Life at the academy was nothing but grind, 
grind, grind; they hated the sight of navy blue, and 
never wanted to see a steam-engine or a rapid-fire ” 
gun again. If they had known what it was, they would 
never have entered the academy; and so forth and so 
forth. 

“ Sounds a good deal like familiar quotations from 
the fox family, don’t it? ” said Dave aside to Norman 
as these remarks were aired at mess-table. 


76 


NAFV BLUE, 


“ Only the grapes are blue I ” 

May was over, the term was at an end; and with 
the advent of June the formidable annuals came, were 
seen, and, by a large proportion of the class, were 
conquered. 

When the list was posted on the morning after the 
last examination, it was found that eleven of the class 
had failed to attain the required 2.5, and would 
straightway have to return to civilian life. This they 
did, and while some jovial faces were missed — for the 
lazy fellows were for the most part jolly and good- 
natured — the class as a whole knew itself the stronger 
for their loss. The cadets who remained began to 
feel like picked men, 

Norman still ranked seven, but Dave had risen two 
in the line, and was a close eighth. 

But in telling all this we have run ahead of our 
story, and must return to the second of June, when 
the St. Botolph party were due at the Short Line 
Railroad Station in Annapolis. 


CHAPTER XX. 


JUNE WEEK. 

It was Tuesday afternoon. Two days of examina- 
tion had already gone into history, and our young 
Northerners wanted to throw up their caps as, on 
special leave, they turned their backs on upper quar- 
ters and started for the station. Never had the sun 
shone more radiantly; never were the green arches 
of the overhanging elms more beautiful; never were 
uniforms more carefully brushed or gloves more 
startlingly white than those worn by the two cadets. 

As they neared the gate they met Saunders, who 
looked at them wistfully. 

'' Just my luck,” said he with a doleful laugh, “ not 
to have a sister; I wish Fd thought of it before I left 
home!’^ 

Look here, Sandy,” said Norman with a sudden 
thought, you just cut over to the commandant’s 
office and ask for an hour’s leave. They’re letting 
up a little on rules, now term’s over, and I don’t 
believe he’ll insist on the written application and all 
that. Come to the door, and if you can go with us 
to the station ” 


12 


1/8 


NAVY BLUE, 


“ Go with you ! Why, man, I don’t know your 
family — except the one degenerate example of it now 
before me. What would they think? ” 

“‘Think!’” said Dave impatiently; “they’d think 
we’d done ’em a favor to introduce you — we’ve kept 

’em posted on all the bright lights of the class ” 

“ Hurry! ” added Norman, “ and don’t stop to talk. 
If you can go, wave your cap three times, and we’ll 
loaf a little on the avenue while you’re jumping into 
your uniform and catching up. There’s half an hour 
before train-time. That’s right — go it! ” 

Saunders’ face had brightened, and he was off like 
a shot before his classmate finished speaking. 

Two minutes later they saw him wave his cap 
excitedly and disappear. 

“ Commandant’s a — a ” 

“ Brick,” said Dave concisely, glancing over his 
shoulder to see that no one was near. “ I don’t care 
to have the gyrene report that I said so, but he is, 
all the same.” 

The marine indicated by the speaker paced sol- 
emnly to and fro, with his thoughts evidently far 
away as the lads passed him. They crossed Hanover 
Street and moved slowly up Maryland Avenue, talking 
of the summer cruise and their plans for September 
leave of absence. At Buffham’s they stopped to look 
at photographs of academy groups displayed in the 
window. Loitering along in this way, they had hardly 


JUNE WEEK. 


179 


reached the street bordering the little eminence on 
which the Capitol stands when they heard rapid steps 
behind them, and Saunders came puffing up, pulling 
on his gloves as he ran. 

The three cadets now turned away to the right, 
toward the railroad station. This route led them past 
Mrs. Lee’s house, and, sure enough, there was Grace, 
just about to enter. 

“ Come in, come in ! ” she said in her Southern, 
cordial way as they approached. “ Mother’ll be ver’ 
glad to see you, and so shall I.” 

“ Thanks,” said Norman, acting as spokesman for 
the trio, “ but we’re bound for the Short Line Station, 
where my mother will arrive from Baltimore in about 
ten minutes. Hallie and Miss Annie are coming with 
her, so Dave and I must be there. Sandy could stop 
— or, better still, why can’t you go down to the station 
with us? ” 

“ Good idea,” said Dave. “ Do come, Miss Lee! 
The girls know all about you.” 

Grace hesitated, then laughed. 

“ Well,” she said, “ just let me tell mother where 
I’m going, with all this naval escort, and I’ll accept 
your invitation. I do so want to meet the ladies of 
your family.” 

“ I’m not in it,” said Sandy grimly as the pretty 
girl swished into the house. No ladies from my 
family! ” 


i8o 


NAVY BLUE. 


In it! I shouldn’t think you were!” cried the 
others in a breath. “ Aren’t you going to escort Miss 
Lee to the station while we fellows fall in behind, just 
to keep an eye on you? ” 

Here the young lady in question reappeared, and 
Saunders rather bashfully stepped forward to the place 
assigned him. If she divined why the other two pre- 
ferred to keep themselves detached from service, she 
said nothing, but cheerfully accepted their comrade’s 
company. 

They had not long to wait at the station, where 
half a dozen negroes were already lounging and sun- 
ning themselves contentedly. The black front of the 
locomotive came hurrying around the curve, and a 
moment later the train was at a standstill. 

‘‘There they are!” cried Norman as he caught 
sight of Hallie’s braid through the car window. “ Oh, 
mother! ” 

The cadet forgot his dignity and white gloves while 
he clasped the little woman in his arms, his heart 
swelling so that he could not speak. 

“Here’s Mr. Rexdale! ” she said, after a moment, 
smiling through her happy tears and holding out her 
hand. “ The girls are just behind, Norman.” 

Three minutes served for all the greetings and 
introductions. Hallie, who was prepared to like 
everybody that liked her brother, was extremely 
cordial in her reception of Miss Lee, while Sandy was 


JUNE WEEK. 


i8i 


met with special friendliness from Anemone; so it 
happened that in starting from the hotel for the acad- 
emy grounds half an hour later, Norman walked be- 
side Grace and his mother, Dave accompanied Hallie, 
and Annie was with Saunders. 

You’ll be just in time for the parade,” said Nor- 
man eagerly as he piloted the party down the now 
familiar avenue. “ There are no regular drills this 
week, but we parade about every day.” 

“Shan’t we hear a band concert, then?” Annie 
asked her jolly escort. 

“ To-morrow,” replied Sandy promptly. “ Of 
course you’ll come ever? ” 

“ If the rest do. Oh, is that the entrance to the 
academy? ” 

“ It is; observe the armed force protecting it. Are 
you prepared to risk a shot from that musket. Miss 
Rexdale?” 

“ Don’t you worry, Annie,” called out Dave over 
his shoulder. “ That isn’t a real soldier. It’s a 
wooden one, wound up every six hours.” 

The sentry was a pleasant enough fellow, after all, 
and his ordinarily grim expression relaxed as the 
bright eyes of the visitors peeped at him in passing. 

“ Do you ever have to stand there with a gun, Nor- 
man? ” inquired Mrs. Holmes, whose idea of cadet 
duties was still rather vague, in spite of all Norman’s 
letters. 


82 


JVAFV BLUE. 


“ Only for a punishment, ma’am, when he’s b — 
failed in recitation,” put in Sandy, solemn as an owl. 

Norman laughed with the rest, and explained to 
his mother that the orderly was a subordinate repre- 
sentative of the United States armed forces, not an 
officer. 

Chattering like magpies and asking questions at 
every step, the girls, following the advice of their 
friends, turned away from upper quarters into Love 
Lane, and so over toward the parade ground. Nor- 
man and his chums now excused themselves, and the 
shrill, sweet notes of the bugle were soon heard, call- 
ing the cadets to the armory, whence they issued in 
column-of-fours, with the band at their head. 

Quite a gathering of spectators, including the 
Board of Visitors, had assembled on and near the 
band stand, and watched the evolutions of the bat- 
talion with delight. It was indeed a fine sight as 
the adjutant, having rectified the alignment and re- 
ported, “Sir, the parade is formed!” the command- 
ing officer returned, “Take your post, sir!” and the 
long ranks of blue-coated, white-gloved cadets stood 
motionless in the afternoon sunlight. 

“ Battalion — attention! ” 

“ Carry — arms ! ” 

The polished barrels of three hundred pieces flashed 
in the air as they came home. 

“ Present — arms ! ” 


JUNE WEEK. 


183 


Then it was the band’s turn, and they marched 
the whole length of the line and back, playing their 
best. 

A few more movements, and “ Parade is dis- 
missed!” Away moved the column to the stirring 
notes of the “ Liberty Bell ” march. 

“ Oh-h! ” exclaimed Hallie, drawing a long breath, 
“it’s splendid! I didn’t see Norman, though; did 
you, Annie? ” 

“ He was just in front of that door,” said Anemone, 
with a little uncalled-for pink in her fresh, country 
cheeks. “ I couldn’t find Dave or Mr. Saunders.” 

They talked for a little while, and then the boys 
appeared again, this time bringing Tickerson and 
Staples, who were duly presented. 

“ Now you must come into the quarters and see our 
rooms,” said Norman, giving his mother his arm and 
leading the way. “ Besides, I want to introduce the 
officer of the day. He’s a splendid fellow, second 
man in his class.” 

How pleasant it was to see those pretty faces in 
the old corridors and bare halls! Even the counte- 
nance of the ferocious lion of the Macedonian seemed 
to soften as the dainty figures paused before him to 
wonder and admire. No. 87 became a sumptuous 
drawing-room, decorated with exotics, while Hallie 
merrily commented upon various articles of furniture 
and in vain begged Dave to repeat his “wooing o’ 


84 


NAVY BLUE. 


the broom.” Annie respectfully opened the covers of 
some of the well-worn books, and Mrs. Holmes poked 
the beds to see if the springs were soft; nay, sat on 
them, leaving a little ruffle on their smooth surface, 
which afterward had to be patted out — though regret- 
fully — by the cadets, lest the officer in charge should 
animadvert upon their disorder. 

Norman and Dave did their best, during the half 
hour that followed this visit, to show their guests 
everything of importance in the building and near it. 
They exhibited with pride the trophies of the War of 
1812 and of the Naval Academy boat-crew; the square 
red flag of the Lawrence, bearing the words Don’t 
Give up the Ship,” and the records of the football 
team; swords of noted officers, and blades of victo- 
rious oars. 

The girls were interested in everything, delighted 
with everything, and voted it ‘‘ a perfectly lovely place 
to live in.” 

“ Only,” added Hallie enthusiastically, “ I don’t 
see how you ever can study, with so many interesting 
things to take up your mind! ” 

“We do find it difficult,” assented Staples, with a 
sly wink at Tickerson. “ Why, I’ve known fellows to 
sit by the hour just gazing out of the window.” 

“ And, then, the trees! ” added Annie. 

“Yes — one Hree ’ in particular,” said Tel. with a 
peculiar expression which Hallie caught in time to 


JUNE WEEK. 


185 

make him explain this arboreal phenomenon which 
flourishes in the lower corridor of upper quarters. 

“ Isn’t Grace Lee a dear thing? ” asked Hallie that 
night as she talked over their new acquaintances with 
her girl friend, in their “ Maryland ” bedroom. 

Y-yes; I like her pretty well,” said Anemone. 


CHAPTER XXL 


THE JUNE BALL. 

Annapolis weather ” proved constant throughout 
that blessed week — perhaps the brightest in the whole 
course for the plebe, who looks back on his anxious 
and harassed first year and realizes that it is at an end 
forever. 

The Board of Visitors were full of zeal and curiosity, 
and various drills were rehearsed for their benefit. 
Some of the evolutions were beyond their civilian com- 
prehension, but the dullest and most prosaic of men 
could not fail to appreciate the boat-drill with cutters, 
for instance; the white-frocked crews, the marvellous 
precision of every movement, the gleam of the ranks 
of tossed oars dripping as they rose aloft. 

Some of the comments of the visitors were over- 
heard and reported, greatly to the amusement of the 
young naval tars. 

Did you hear what Congressman R said 

about the ^ glorious effect of snowy canvas against 
the blue sky ’ ? ” chuckled a yearling cadet. We 
were getting sail on the ship, and he was just begin- 
ning to applaud, when somebody told him to wait. 


THE JUNE BALL, 

The ‘ snowy canvas ’ was a to’gallants’l with the clew- 
lines jammed! ” 

Late in the afternoon came the regular band con- 
cert, or ‘‘ practice,’^ which takes place at that time, as 
well as in the morning, every day in the year when the 
band is not required in the drills, as in battalion exer- 
cise or land artillery. On Wednesday the girls came 
over, fresh as the morning itself, to the early concert, 
though their cadet friends, being busy in the examina- 
tion rooms, could not join them. 

Promptly at the hour the leader raised his baton, and 
the glorious strains of '' Star Spangled Banner ” arose, 
thrilling the hearts of the hearers as it has those of 
millions of their countrymen. Other patriotic pieces 
followed, and the girls, as they listened, felt that they, 
too, were Americans. 

“ I’m so glad that Dave is going into the navy,” 
said Annie as they strolled back to the city. 

“ Has gone,” corrected Hallie promptly. “ And 
Norman, too. Only, it’s funny, but he seems to be 
getting more and more interested in engineer work. 
His main idea, I guess, when he left home was to 
wear a sword and fire off cannon.” 

“ Well,” said Anemone, “ I heard an officer say not 
long ago that the engineers on a warship are almost 
as much fighting men as the line officers, nowadays. 
At any rate, they would play just as important a part 
in a battle, and be in almost as much danger, every 


i88 


NAVY BLUE. 


minute. The big engine that drives the vessel, and 
dozens of other smaller engines — electric, hydraulic, 
and I don’t know what — that they use in getting up 
ammunition, revolving the turrets, and aiming the 
cannon, all have to be in perfect order; and a mistake 
or hitch in running them at such a time might lose the 
battle.” 

“ Ah, but think of the balls flying about the deck,” 
said Hallie. “ I don’t like to imagine my Norman 
hiding away, down below; though, of course, I don’t 
want him to be hit! ” she added hastily. 

Think of those great steel-pointed shot plunging 
through the ship’s sides into the engine-room I ” re- 
torted Annie with a shudder, or a torpedo blowing 
up right underneath! There’s danger enough, and 
responsibility, too, in a naval engineer’s profession! ” 

“ Well, I think it’s nice that Dave is going into the 
line, anyway,” said Hallie. “ Perhaps there won’t be 
a war as long as they live, so they’ll both be safe.” 

Friday came at last — the great day! Examinations 
were over, the results posted, and among the true and 
the tried our friends stood once more, as we have seen, 
well in advance of the rest of most of their classmates, 
whose numbers had again shrunk at the best of awful 
two-five. 

The bugle blows blithely after breakfast, and the 
whole corps of cadets hurry to the armory, forming 
back of upper quarters; now to the academy chapel, 


THE JUNE BALL, 


189 


where the chaplain, looking down upon the array of 
brave young faces so eager for the unknown battle 
of life, prays for their welfare with, doubtless, a swell- 
ing heart and an affectionate solicitude, the depth of 
which they can only realize in after years. Then comes 
a good, ringing discourse from one of the august 
board, who is glad of the chance to say publicly what 
has been on his mind and lips ever since he arrived, 
and to tell the cadets what their country demands and 
expects of them. They have heard it all before, but 
the words of the speaker assume new significance on 
this special day, when nearly forty of their number are 
to leave them for actual service, and, ere long, receive 
government commissions as officers of the navy. 

Once more the line is formed. We march slowly 
out from beneath the echoing arches of the sacred 
house into the flickering shadows of the dear old elms 
— never so dear as on this last day, when they stretch 
their trembling arms over us in blessing and farewell. 

But the band strikes up merrily, and we are drawn 
up in line by the stand, the graduates in front and 
centre, facing the Secretary of the Navy and the super- 
intendent. It is fabled afterward that those nearest 
could perceive that not even the faces of those sea- 
soned warriors were free from signs of emotion as 
they handed out the diplomas to their erect, manly 
young foster-children who had borne the test of four 
years’ severe training in the Naval Academy. 


190 


J\rAFV BLUE. 


And now the last sheepskin has been delivered; 
and as it leaves the Secretary’s hand, presto! the 
functions have become plebes; the plebes, youngsters; 
the youngsters, second-class men; and a new “first 
class ” has stepped forward to take the place of the 
departing diploma-bearers. 

“Youngster, how are you?” cried Sandy, clapping 
Tickerson on the back as soon as they were released 
from formation. 

“ Don’t talk to me! ” exclaimed Girlie T. excitedly. 
“ I’ve grown three inches in the last half hour.” 

“ That’s right, sonny,” retorted his classmate. 
“ You’ll look down on Telegraph yet. I say, what 
are those things over by Seamanship? ” 

“ Let me look ! ” (squinting through his hand). 
“ Oh, those are plebes — poor, little, insignificant 
plebes!” 

“ Sure! How does it feel to be one, I wonder? ” 

“ Can’t tell you. Dreamed I was one myself once, 
but I’ve forgotten the sensation.” 

“ It does seem like a dream. Let’s see if it’s reality. 
Here, you plebe! ” he called to an ex-function who 
was crossing the grounds. 

“ Yes, sir, ” answered the lad, running up and 
touching his cap. 

“ Keep your blouse brushed and don’t drink too 
much milk for supper. That’s all.” 

“ It’s real ! ” said Sandy in awestruck tones as the 


THE JUNE BALL. 


I9I 

good-natured little plebe trotted away with a laugh. 
“ I was going to ask you to pinch me, Girlie, but the 
other method was less painful. Come on, let’s find 
Lat. and Farmer. They’re sure to be somewhere 
together.” 

“ And somebody else is sure to be with them,” 
added Tickerson roguishly. “ Go ahead, Sandy, I’ll 
see you later. I’ve got to look up something for 
to-night.” 

She wouldn’t feel complimented to hear herself 
called ^ something ’ ! ” sung out Sandy; and he walked 
away, tickled to have had the last word. 

It should be stated at once that certain finely en- 
graved missives had been widely circulated during 
the preceding days, bearing the following invitation: 


The Class of Ninety 

of the 

United States Naval Academy 
request the honor of your presence 

at the 

Farewell Ball 

to be given to the 

Graduating Class^ 

Friday evening., June fifths 

Eighteen hundred and ninety , 

at nine o'clock. 

Annapolis., Maryland. 


192 


NAVY BLUE. 


The Holmes party had been forewarned of this an- 
nual custom of the second-class men, and had brought 
suitable gowns in their trunks. Bright and early 
Norman and Dave appeared with a hack, and away 
they rattled to the academy. The carriage left them 
at the portals of old Fort Severn, and they all mounted 
the stairs to the gymnasium in high glee. 

The three ladies had worn light wraps from the 
hotel, but when they entered the dance-room a few 
minutes later, the boys’ hearts came up in their throats, 
the girls were so pretty in their party gowns. Far be 
it from the historian to attempt to describe these 
diaphanous creations! Suffice it to say that to Dave’s 
eyes Hallie was adorable in pink; and her brother 
could see nothing for several minutes but a sweet face 
beside her, rising from a fluff of pure white, which set 
off Anemone’s delicate beauty exquisitely, and made 
her look more than ever the flower for which she was 
named. 

Am I right? ” dimpled Miss Hallie to honest 
Dave, who had been struck dumb at the pink ap- 
parition. And she pretended to look in great per- 
turbation for something out of place in her dainty 
costume. 

Right! ” gasped Dave, ‘‘ I should say you were — 
rather!” And that was all the spoken compliment 
she had from him that night. But she was satisfied. 

Grace Lee was there, of course, and her friend. Miss 


THE JUNE BALL. 


193 


Franklin; the two young ladies, with Mrs. Lee, being 
under escort of Saunders and Tickerson. The two 
matrons had already exchanged calls, and they were 
glad to find seats together and talk over their children 
while the latter were dancing. 

Before long, upper-class men began to nudge the 
youngsters for introductions to their friends. This 
was contrary to all precedent, the girl who shows 
marked favor to plebes or even newly pledged 
youngsters at a hop being rather tabooed by such 
conduct from the elevating society of the upper 
classes. But the pretty quartette was in this case 
irresistible, and the third-year men remembered sud- 
denly that Holmes and Rexdale, at any rate, were im- 
portant men in their class; so with this concession 
they unbent, or, rather, bent before the conquering 
little heroines in pink and white. Hallie’s braid was 
soon flying over the shoulder of a cadet petty officer 
with an eagle on his anchor, in a glorious two-step; 
and a no less exalted personage than the cadet lieu- 
tenant-commander was ere long in danger of forget- 
ting the haughty Washington belle he had escorted 
to the ball as he stood beside the little New Hamp- 
shire wild-flower, fanning her and looking down into 
her frank, shining eyes as he talked. 

Tickerson, for once, was in high favor with Grace 
Lee, and, being one of the best dancers in the acad- 
emy, had no lack of partners; while Sandy, succumb- 
13 


194 


JVAFV BLUE. 


ing entirely to the charms of Miss Franklin, dashed 
wildly about, as usual, strewing wrecks in his path. 

Long after the hour appointed for closing, the lights 
twinkled in the gymnasium, graceful forms glided to 
and fro, and the sound of sweet music floated out at 
the open windows. 

Just as the inexorable master of ceremonies would 
open his lips to order “ Home, Sweet Home,’^ a 
deputation of pretty girls would wait upon him, their 
eyes and cheeks glowing with happiness and excite- 
ment, and beg for ‘‘ one more dance ” with a plaintive 
fervor that the grim warrior could not resist. 

At last he — figuratively — bound himself to the mast 
and stopped his ears as the fluffy sirens pleaded in 
vain. The long-postponed strains of “ Sweet Home ” 
filled the air; the chaperons rubbed their eyes and sat 
up straight; the girls, proclaiming one and all that 

they weren’t tired a bit, and it was too bad to close 
so early! ” flocked to the dressing-rooms. Departing 
carriages bore the little parties homeward one after 
another; the gymnasium was left empty, with only 
trailing shreds of white muslin, a trampled rosebud or 
two, and the perfume of many flowers to tell of the 
happy hours that had past; while as the roll of the 
last carriage-wheels died away in the distance the first 
robin, whistling sleepily somewhere in the elms, an- 
nounced that a new day had begun. 


CHAPTER XXII. 


OUTWARD BOUND. 

On Saturday morning came the precious orders 
for sea service. Several weeks before this the cadets 
of the fourth class had been asked to express their 
preferences for the line or engineer corps. Those 
who had chosen the latter now received orders to 
transfer their effects forthwith to the Bancroft, while 
the line-men were commanded to report on board the 
Monongahela. The day was a busy one, and Norman 
saw but little of his family. To condense the contents 
of his wardrobe sufficiently for stowing in the small 
locker on board ship was a puzzling task. Fortu- 
nately the problem as to the baggage to be taken 
along was a comparatively simple one, as most of the 
dunnage ” was prescribed by regulations. At last 
everything was stowed and ready for the voyage. 

In the evening he repaired to the hotel, and had a 
long talk with his mother over his prospects. It was 
then that he fully decided, once for all, to adopt the 
engineer branch of naval service.* Dave never had 

* As these lines are written a movement is on foot to do away 
with all distinctions between the line and the engineer corps. In 


NAVY BLUE. 


196 

any doubt as to his own future. The path his father 
had trodden was to be his own, and he desired no 
other. 

Sunday was a long, quiet, strange day, with its 
beauty and restfulness, after the year of hard work, 
already shadowed by the coming separation. Not 
only were the two lads to leave behind those dear to 
them, but they must say good-by for a time to each 
other. Dave was to cross the Atlantic, while Norman, 
in the Bancroft, was to cruise along the eastern sea- 
board of the United States, until the reunion of the 
two parties about September ist. 

Sunday evening the ladies came over to the acad- 
emy grounds, joining the cadets there. After a while 
the party met one of the instructors, a commissioned 
officer in the United States navy, and much liked by 
the young men in his charge. He was strolling 
through the grounds with his wife, and introductions 
naturally followed the meeting. So it came about 
that Mrs. Holmes walked on with the two new ac- 
quaintances, while Hallie fell into line with Dave, and 
Annie and Norman brought up the rear. 

For an hour they wandered to and fro under the 
elms and along the sea-wall. Mrs. Holmes accepted an 
invitation to rest a few minutes in Lieutenant’s K.’s 

Norman’s time the two were separated during the summer cruise 
and in the second half of the academy course, and it was necessary 
for the cadet to make an early choice. 



M 


THE “ BANCROFT 






OUTWARD BOUND. 


197 


house close by, leaving the young people to them- 
selves meanwhile. “ Didn’t the girls want to rest, 
too? ” she asked. No, they weren’t in the least tired; 
the evening was too lovely to spend indoors. 

There was a great deal, it seemed, to talk about. 
Old scenes were rehearsed; plans for the future were 
unfolded and commented upon. Annie told Norman 
about the Salem school, and her intention to teach; 
while he, on his part, confided to her more of his 
ambitions and hopes than he had to any one except 
his mother. 

If Hallie’s talk with Dave was merrier, it had none 
the less an undertone of feeling which neither of them 
thought of putting into words. Indeed the conversa- 
tion of all four might have been stenographically re- 
ported and read by the outside world, and no one the 
wiser. It was just honest, earnest talk, and, perhaps, 
a significant pause or two, or a little pressure of 
one arm within the other, that could not be put into 
type. 

Well, the long, dear June evening under the star- 
light was over at last. Both ships were to sail the 
following morning, and the home party had promised 
to be on the wharf in good season to witness the de- 
parture of the little squadron of two. But the real 
good-byes had to be spoken — and looked — that night. 

After Rexdale and Holmes had left the hotel they 
walked for some time in silence. The old Maryland 


198 


NAVY BLUE. 


capital was very quiet, though many small parties 
were passing to and from the academy. 

Where shall we be at this time to-morrow, I won- 
der? ” asked Dave at length, “ and where will they 
be?’^ 

“ Mother and the rest will be on the cars rattling 
along through New Jersey, I suppose,” said Norman. 

As for us, old fellow, we shall be a good many miles 
apart.” 

Have you heard what the orders are for the 
Bancroft? ” 

“ Only that we’re going to Newport News first. 
None of the fellows knows anything definite about 
the cruise beyond that. Probably we shall run up the 
coast as far as Portland or Bath, and then work slowly 
southward. That’s what they did last year.” 

“ It’s odd. Norm, that you and Staples should pre- 
fer the engineer corps — ^the best boxer in the class 
and one of the leading football men! There’s Girlie, 
now, training for the line! It just seems to go by 
contraries.” 

“ Well, I don’t know, Dave. When I first thought 
of the navy it seemed an escape from indoor work and 
grubbing along as a lawyer. But, you see, I always 
had a sort of hankering for mathematics and machin- 
ery. I made a working model of a steam-engine — 
about ten sparrow-power! — ^when I was twelve years 
old. And now, with all these chances for learning 


OUTWARD BOUND. 


199 


about machines, practice as well as theory, and the 
prospect of engineers playing a more and more im- 
portant part in the navy, the life has a kind of fascina- 
tion for me. One part of me pulls for the deck and 
the fresh air and another for the engine-room.” 

“ I see,” said Dave, “ it’s a case of ‘ Dr. Jekyll and 
Mr. Hyde,’ only I can’t say which is which.” 

“ I’m glad, old fellow, for some reasons, that you 
are going into the line. We shall keep friends as long 
as we live ” (throwing his arm aflfectionately over the 
other’s shoulder) “ and we can each keep posted on 
the other’s department of navy affairs.” 

“ Wouldn’t it be jolly,” said Dave after a few 
moments’ silence, “ if we could be appointed on the 
same ship? ” 

“Rather! I believe it will come about, somehow. 
Then — we could read each other’s home letters, you 
know! ” 

Dave smiled under cover of the darkness. 

“ Perhaps, by that time — ” he began, but checked 
himself, having come dangerously near saying some- 
thing sentimental. He was nearly a year older than 
Norman, and it is quite possible that the future had 
received more definite thought in his mind than in his 
comrade’s. 

Nothing more was said on the subject at present, 
and the two cadets entered the grounds and went on 
board their respective ships for the night. 


200 


NAVY BLUE. 


At ten o’clock the next . morning the sea-wall and 
wharf presented a gay scene. A large number of 
Annapolis people, together with visiting friends and 
relatives of the cadets of the fourth, third, and first 
classes, had assembled to see them start on the sum- 
mer’s cruise. Many of the younger ladies, including 
Hallie and Annie, wore light dresses and carried gay- 
colored parasols; and more than one furtive signal 
passed between deck and shore. 

The Monongahela had been moved out in the stream 
and lay with her anchor hove to a short stay, headed 
toward the bay, the tide being almost full and the 
wind blowing gently from the southwest. The Ban- 
croft was moored to the wharf, her stack pouring out 
volumes of black smoke, her steam up, waiting for the 
command to cast off. 

At last the word came. The bells in the engine- 
room of the smaller steamer could be heard by the 
nearest in the shore crowd, who set up a cheer, in- 
creasing as the fasts were cast off, the heavy hawsers 
drawn briskly on board, and the little ship gathered 
way. 

At the same moment, as if by magic, the rigging of 
the Monongahela, which was going to sea under can- 
vas, was filled with nimble figures, while the orders of 
the executive officer and the boatswain’s whistle came 
merrily across the water. 

“ Stations for loosing sail! Keep fast the royals! 


OUTWARD BOUND 


201 


“ To’gallant yardmen in the topmast rigging! 

“ Lay aloft, sail loosers — lay out and loose! 

“ Man the tops’l sheets and halliards ! ” 

All being reported ready at each mast, the orders 
came: ‘'Standby! Let fall! Sheet home! Lay in 
— lay down from aloft! ’’ 

Down came the white-uniformed young seamen, 
except a few who remained to “ light up ” the rigging. 
Then, “ Set taut! Hoist away the tops’ls! ” And as 
soon as the sails were up to a taut leech, “ Belay the 
tops’l halliards! ” 

Now the yards must be braced, while the broad, 
gleaming spaces of canvas flutter in the breeze and 
show their beautiful curves to the enthusiastic spec- 
tators on shore. 

“ Man the port-head, starboard main, and port 
cross-jack braces! Set taut! Brace up — brace abox!” 

All this time the anchor holds the good ship firmly 
to Maryland soil; but the time for her to loose her grip 
has come. 

“Man the bars! Heave around! ” 

Tramp, tramp around the capstan, and the Monon- 
gahela surges ahead slightly. 

“ Anchor up and down, sir! 

“ Clear away the down-haul! Hoist away! ” 

“ Anchor’s up, sir! ” 

“ Avast heaving; hook the cat! ” 

The vessel pays off gracefully before the wind; the 


202 


JVAVy BLUB. 


helm, which has been alee, is righted; the head-yards 
are properly braced, and the spanker is set. But there 
is room for more canvas still. 

“ Man the to’gallant sheets and halliards! Set taut! 
Sheet home and hoist away ! '' 

The anchor is catted and fished. More cheers from 
the shore; excited wavings of handkerchiefs; “Star 
Spangled Banner ’’ from the band on the Monongahehy 
as the two ships move farther and farther away, setting 
their prows steadily toward the Atlantic. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


THE “wooded island/^ 

“ Land, ho! ” 

It was the morning of July 3d. The Monongahela 
had proved a seaworthy vessel, though not fleet- 
footed, and the voyage had presented few especially 
exciting incidents beyond a lively blow on the fourth 
day out from Annapolis, and the usual assortment 
of calms and baffling winds. The third-class men, 
who had entered in September, and were therefore 
embarked on their first cruise, afforded considerable 
amusement to their hardened comrades during the 
early stages of the voyage, but a few days of deep 
sea service banished all qualms, and the crew was as 
jolly and contented a set of hard- worked young 
mariners as one could ask. Discipline was as severe 
as ever; practical studies were pursued, though under 
difficulties; innumerable sights were taken by the 
zealous cadet officers (nearly all of the first class) ; and 
the new plebes, with the youngsters, found plenty of 
pulling and hauling, splicing, log-heaving, and tying 
reef-points to occupy their hands when they were not 
busy over their books. 


204 


NAVY BLUE. 


Of course there was some grumbling. One fellow 
in Dave’s mess, nicknamed “ Pessy,” for obvious 
reasons, always took gloomiest views of present, past, 
and future. 

“ The barometer’s falling,” he announced one morn- 
ing, and we’re going to have a regular cyclone, like 
as not, with a waterspout that’ll send this old tub to 
the bottom.” 

“ Oh, come off, Pessy! ” shouted some one. “ The 
Monongahela wasn’t born to be drowned. You’ll be 
laying out on the yards next fall down by the academy 
wharf, and grumbling because she didn’t go to pieces 
on Teneriffe.” 

I tell you what we’ll do, fellows,” said Rexdale; 

we’ll take Pessy off from Funchal some dark night, 
and maroon him on the Desertas! ” 

“ The Desertas? What are they? ” inquired he of 
the gloomy countenance. 

“ Why, don’t you know? Those bare rocks that 
every shipmaster gives a wide berth to, a dozen miles 
or more southeast of Madeira.” 

“ H’m,” growled Pessy, working away vigorously 
at his dinner, “ Pll bet a month’s pay there’s no reefing 
tops’ls there on a wet night, nor decks to scrub. 


'' All hands on deck! ” came the boatswain’s whistle. 
Told you so,” grumbled the speaker, cutting short 
his speech and rising with the rest to answer the sud- 


THE 'WOODED ISLAND." 


205 


den call. “ The old man’s going to give a pull to 
the weather main brace, just to give us a job* on the 
other side at two bells.” 

In spite of grumbling, the good ship ploughed 
her way along cheerily enough, with a fair-sized bone 
in her teeth, eating up longitude, meridian after 
meridian, and sinking her latitude on the great circle 
which guided her course. 

Many a night Dave and Girlie, who were in the 
second division of the starboard watch, stood by the 
rail, looking out over the dark, restless waters and 
talking of home. 

This reminds me of one exciting affair that hap- 
pened to break the monotony of the voyage when the 
ship was in about longitude 41° (west from Green- 
wich), not far from the Azores. 

One of the plebes, a slim, clumsy fellow named 
Peters, was jockeying a foreyard-arm, at work on some 
minor job on the lift, when the ship rolled heavily, 
and losing his balance, he fell with a shriek into the 
sea. The ship was straining a bit, under topgallant- 
sails, and was logging hardly less than ten knots when 
the accident occurred. In a moment the cadet was 
so far astern that it seemed impossible to save him; 
but Girlie Tickerson, with a loud cry of “ Man over- 
board!” was on the taffrail and into the water so 
quickly that he came up within half a dozen yards of 
Peters, whose scant supply of wits seemed to have 


206 


JVAFV BLUE. 


been scattered by the shock of the sudden immersion, 
and who was splashing and crying out wildly. 

Girlie, who was a fine swimmer, was by his side, 
puffing and blowing in a minute, and catching sight of 
a life-buoy which had been thrown by some one on 
deck, caught the plebe by the arm and shouted to him 
to stop struggling. 

“Help! Ow-w — ! I’m drowning!” screamed 

Peters, clutching Girlie around the neck. 

The natural consequence of this movement was that 
both sank below the surface. With great effort Girlie 
managed to free himself and beat his way upward, 
followed by the other. 

“ If you — do that — again — I’ll drown you!” shrieked 
the would-be rescuer, seizing Peters once more. 
“ Keep still, now, and you won’t sink. Don’t try to 
get up and stand on the water! ” 

This time the boy obeyed, and Girlie soon reached 
the life-buoy. 

The ship, meanwhile, had been thrown up into the 
wind, regardless of light spars, and the main-topsail 
backed. Down went the first cutter from the davits, 
the men tumbling in like mad, and headed for the 
buoy. The boat’s crew had pulled hard before, in 
division races, but never did that cutter fly over the 
placid Severn as it leaped across the eighth of a mile 
of tumbling water that lay between the ship and the 
men overboard. 


THE WOODED ISLAND." 


207 


“ Steady — oars ! ” cried the boatswain at length as 
he rounded the stern up to the buoy to which the 
two cadets still clung. 

It was a ticklish job to get them in safely, but it 
was accomplished, and a faint “Hurrah!” from the 
ship that lay in the distance, with its sails thundering, 
proclaimed that the rescue was noted by those on 
. board. 

Nothing worse than the ducking and a few hours’ 
weakness resulted to either of the cadets, who had 
been in the water nearly twenty minutes before they 
were picked up. Girlie, however, found himself a 
first-class hero when he came on deck in a dry rig. 
The men who had laughed, not always kindly, at his 
girlish face and diminutive stature, were the first to 
press forward and grasp his hand. 

Of course the incident was the talk of the day, fore 
and aft. In the watch corresponding to the old 
second “ dog watch ” — that is, from four bells to four 
again in the early evening — a seaman aboard, known 
among the cadets as “ Old Smoky,” was moved to re- 
late, over his pipe, an occurrence which once came 
near ending his own existence. 

“ It was in the old ship London,” says Old Smoky, 
puffing away, “ before I jined the navy. We was 
five days out from Liverpool, bound fer New Orleans. 
It kem on to blow hard, and all hands was called to 
reef tops’ls before the watch tamed in for the night. 


2o8 


NAVY BLUE. 


Twas putty middlin’ dark already, an’ when we got 
out on the yard most o’ the work had to be done by 
feelin’. The mate he ordered the man at the wheel 
to luff a bit, so’s to spill the sail, an’ we clawed away 
at it in good shape. I was young then — ’twas my 
second v’yage — and a leetle narvous, maybe; the ship 
was rollin’ like a porpoise, an’ one minute we’d be 
over the deck, the next we could jest see the froth 
on the black water right under us. Wall, I was reach- 
in’ over putty well, an’ my feet wobblin’ round on the 
foot-rope, when the wind ketched the sail and bellied 
it right up in my face; I gave a howl and lost my foot- 
in’, and the next minute felt myself goin’.” 

Old Smoky paused to draw at his black pipe till 
it glowed brightly again, enjoying meanwhile the 
silent interest of his young auditors. 

‘‘ In that minute, as I fell, I tell ye, sirs, I remem- 
bered my whole life, from the time when I was a boy 
down on a farm in ’Roostook County, Maine, an’ used 
to fish in the brook with a bent pin, all through my 
schoolin’ days, my cornin’ to Boston, an’ shippin’ as 
ship’s boy. It seemed hours and hours while I was 
goin’ through the air.” 

“Well, did they pick you up?” asked Peters with 
a shudder at the recollection of his own recent experi- 
ence. 

“ Pick me up? ” said the old seaman, knocking the 
ashes out of his pipe on the lee rail. “ I should rather 


THE WOODED ISLAND/' 


209 


say they did; leastwise, the man next me on the yard 
did. Jest as I slipped off he reached over an’ caught 
me by the slack o’ my clo’es, and hauled me over the 
yard agin. ' Thar, you fool! ’ says he, an’ that was the 
end on’t. I’d fallen about a foot when he caught me.” 

Thus through fair weather and foul, sunshine and 
fog, with grumbling and laughter and yarns, the days 
passed until on that misty July morning the lookout 
gave the welcome cry; 

“ Land, ho! ” 

The boys were not long in turning out. To many 
of them this apparition of land, after three weeks’ sail 
across the ocean from Maryland, was like the discovery 
of a new world. As far as discipline permitted they 
scanned the picturesque headland that slowly loomed 
up through the fog, growing more and more distinct, 
until, running along the southern coast within about 
two miles of the shore, they could easily note its dis- 
tinctive features. 

The first-class officers on deck, to a man, trained 
their binoculars upon the land, while the eyes of the 
seamen, unaided by glass magnifiers, did good service. 

From the very first, Madeira was voted by all a 
glorious spot. The island seemed one vast range of 
mountains, their tops lost in clouds, their mighty 
flanks terminating in bold promontories and preci- 
pices, down which the observers could see torrents, 
here and there, leaping into the ocean. The lower 
14 


210 


NAVY BLUE. 


slopes were dotted with white-walled chalets, thatched 
or covered with red tiles, and each surrounded by its 
bright garden-patch of sugar-cane or grapevines. 

“ Why was it called ' Madeira,’ anyway? ” asked one 
of the cadets. “ What does the word mean? ” 

“ It’s a Portuguese word, meaning ' wooded,’ an- 
swered a dignified young officer, who had been there 
the year before, and was well versed in the subject. 

When the island was settled three or four hundred 
years ago it was covered with trees, but most of them 
have been cut off. The name, in English, is ‘ Wooded 
Island.’ ” 

Is everybody Portuguese now, on the island?” 

Pretty much. There are a few English and others; 
but everybody speaks Portuguese.” 

That’ll suit me,” observed Sandy. “ It’ll give me 
a homelike feeling to speak Portuguese once more,” 
he continued gravely as he saw several plebes look 
at him with increased respect. “ If any of you fellows 
want an interpreter in Funchal, just call on me. By 
the way,” to the plebes, “ do you know what kind of 
wine they have here, besides Madeira? ” 

“ No, what is it? ” asked two or three at once. 
“Why, port, you geese! Come on, Dave, there’s 
the boatswain piping to grub.” 

For two hours the Monongahela held her course 
along the coast, and early in the forenoon dropped 
anchor off Loo Rock, in the harbor of Funchal. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 

Before the anchor of the Monongahela was fairly at 
rest in the harbor, a host of small boats came scurry- 
ing over the water toward the big warship, which was 
soon surrounded with the curious little craft, like a 
duck with an uncommonly large flock of ducklings. As 
among young poultry, too, a babel of not unmusical 
cries arose from the splashing, gesticulating throng; 
the comparison failed only when it came to the color 
of the boats, nearly all of which were bright green, 
with elevated prow and stern-post. 

The cadets did not linger at mess that morning. 

Look at the flowers in that boat! ” cried one, “ and 
the oranges I ” 

Morangos ! morangos ! maduros 1 ” sung out a 
swarthy boatman, holding up a trayful of baskets 
loaded with big red strawberries. 

'' Say, fellows,” exclaimed Saunders, “ Fd forgotten 
it was the season for morangos. They’re a little late, 
but good eating, just the same, especially the maduros 
kind.” 


'' Hail him in Portuguese, Sandy.” 


212 


NAVY BLUE, 


Kalamazoo — comarouse — halibazan? ’’ shouted 
Sandy. 

The boatman shook his head, shrieked “ Nao 
entende! ” and fired back a volley of his own language, 
with many gestures. 

“ What does he say, sir? ” asked a plebe cadet. 

“ I asked him how his mother-in-law was, and he 
said she’d been out picking morangos this morning, 
but the sun was too hot,” said Sandy with unmoved 
countenance as he sauntered away to where Rexdale 
and others of his classmates were overhanging the rail. 

“ Look here, Sandy, this fellow’s going to dive for a 
nickel,” called Dave. “There he goes!” 

One of the cadets tossed the shining piece into the 
water, which was of the deepest blue and so clear that 
the coin could be seen in its wavering descent for 
fathoms below the surface. It did not reach the bot- 
tom of the harbor, however. A dark-skinned figure, 
naked but for a strip of cloth around the loins, shot 
like an arrow from his boat, and diving in a diagonal 
line, reached the shining bit while it was still twinkling 
downward. 

Up came the swimmer, holding the coin aloft be- 
tween thumb and finger, and clamoring for another 
trial as he writhed over the gunwale of his boat. 

“ Let’s have a swim,” suggested some one, unable 
to resist the example of the Portuguese diver. 

“ All right. Ask the exec, for leave.” 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 213 

A deputation of two cadets waited on the executive 
officer and preferred their request, which met with 
rather a curt refusal. 

“ You’re too ready for play, young gentlemen,” said 
the officer sternly. “ There’s hard work to be done 
first.” 

Now, on the report of this reply by the crestfallen 
committee, a spirit of mischief straightway entered 
into that portion of the crew whom the decision im- 
mediately affected. The sun was warm, the clear 
water inviting, the plashing of oars and swimmers 
fascinatingly suggestive. 

The cadets put their heads together, and presently 
Bell Whittaker sauntered near a group of petty offi- 
cers. As he reached them he started, touched his 
cap with an Ay, ay, sir! ” as if he had received an 
order, and immediately began to make his way out 
over the bowsprit and to the extreme end of the flying 
jibboom. Each of the officers, thinking some other 
of their number had sent him to overhaul some run- 
ning gear thereabouts, glanced at the agile seaman 
and paid no further attention to his movements. 

Suddenly a loud cry was heard, and a terrific splash 
ahead of the ship proclaimed that Whittaker had un- 
accountably lost his balance and fallen from the jib- 
boom. 

“Man overboard!” shouted half a dozen voices; 
and a moment later the whole port watch was in the 


214 


NAVY BLUE. 


water, swimming zealously for their comrade, who 
called for help with all his might and lay on his side, 
paddling awkwardly and feebly as if disabled by the 
fall. 

' “ Second cutters, lower away! ’’ came the quick 

orders from the startled officer of the deck. The ropes 
were bungled, the blocks wouldn’t work, the bows of 
the cutter dropped unexpectedly before the stern, 
spilling three more cadets into the harbor. A series 
of ear-splitting cries from the Portuguese boatmen as 
they hurried to the spot, shouts of warning from the 
men in the water, who were in real danger of being 
run down, the sharp orders of officers on the ship, 
made the scene a mimic pandemonium, while the 
gallant rescuers gambolled like a school of porpoises 
around Whittaker, whose prowess as a swimmer 
when a plebe will be remembered. Indeed every man 
in the academy was almost as much at home in the 
water as on land, swimming lessons in the tank being 
one of the early requirements of first-year drill. 

The executive officer, who had gone below after 
delivering his veto on natation, by this time regained 

the deck, and in a few moments order was brought 

* 

out of confusion as he took in the situation. 

Whittaker was being fairly pushed up into the air 
by half a dozen white-shirted swimmers, who were 
laughing and sputtering so they could hardly keep 
afloat themselves; while others were being pulled into 



THE FIRST DIVISION 







THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 21$ 

the native boats by the Portuguese, who insisted on 
rescuing them from a watery grave. 

The second cutter was by this time in the water, 
right side up, and the crew (three of them dripping) 
on the thwarts, with oars poised. In another moment 
they gave way, and presently one after another of the 
rescued were assisted over the side of the ship, Sandy, 
solemn as a drenched owl, among the foremost. 

The youngsters of that year will always believe they 
pulled wool over the eyes of their superiors on that 
eventful occasion, but I have the best of reasons for 
taking the opposite view. At any rate, it is a fact that 
half an hour afterward the executive officer and two 
or three of his assistants were closeted in the cabin 
of the former, and shaking their sides over something, 
in a manner which hardly befitted the demeanor of 
those who believed a cadet under their charge had 
narrowly escaped a “ death from drowning ’’ entry in 
the ship’s log-book. 

Be this as it may, no investigation was held of the 
affair, and only a display of seventeen dripping suits 
of white togs on the clothesline, an hour later, served 
to remind the ship’s company of the forbidden swim 
in the harbor of Funchal. 

No shore leave was granted to the crew that day. 
Several of the officers, commissioned and cadet, in full 
uniform, visited the city and paid their respects to the 
governor of the islands and the American consul. 


2i6 


JVAFV BLUE. 


The latter came on board and dined there. In the 
afternoon the band gave a concert, several boat-loads 
of English, American, and Portuguese ladies coming 
out to listen. After their return, word got around the 
decks that more than one cordial invitation had been 
left behind by the fair dames, including in their hos- 
pitable scope the whole ship’s company. 

“ I suppose I shall have to call on the governor,” 
said Sandy languidly. “ He’s probably heard of me, 
and I hate to hurt his feelings. I shall have to crowd 
him in somehow.” 

When the flag was hoisted to the peak on the morn- 
ing of the glorious Fourth, the strains of “ The Star 
Spangled Banner ” rang out over the bay, and must 
have given the hearts of every American in the place 
a pang of homesickness. Liberty was granted to 
every man on board to spend at least a half day on 
shore, a part of the crew going in the morning and 
the rest in the afternoon. The officers not on duty 
were allowed the whole day. The local boatmen were 
disappointed if they expected passengers from the 
ship, for only her own boats were used, the crews 
having strict injunctions to report at the landing 
steps at a given hour. 

The moment the cadets set foot on shore they were 
assailed by a throng of guides or cicerones ” and 
boys with ox-goads. Rexdale, Sandy, and Girlie 
Tickerson, with Dumb Whittaker, made up a party. 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 217 

and, money being none too plentiful in the crowd, 
started to view the town. 

“ No, thank you,” said Sandy, pushing back a per- 
sistent cicerone. “ See you later, my boy. , You’d 
better tackle these fellows with the swords,” pointing 
out a group of cadet petty officers who were just 
landing. 

The man understood the gesture and moved off, 
while the youngsters crossed the street to survey a 
waiting line of curious vehicles answering to cabs or 
hacks in our own country. 

“ I declare, they’re regular ox-sleds with a carriage- 
top set on the runners,” said Dave, examining a bul- 
lock-cart with curiosity. 

“ Right you are. Farmer,” remarked his jocose com- 
panion approvingly. “ I knew what I was about 
when I took your tow-line. Nothing like being with 
somebody that understands the institutions of the 
country.” 

“ There aren’t more than two or three wheeled 
carriages in the place, they say,” volunteered Whit- 
taker when the laugh had subsided. 

“ Let’s chip in and charter an ox-sled,” suggested 
Girlie. 

‘‘ All right. Sail in, Sandy, and make a contract. 
You know the lingo.” 

^‘Ahem! How muchee?” asked that individual of 
the charioteer, whose face had betokened various 


2I8 


NAVY BLUE. 


emotions as he listened to their unintelligible con- 
versation. 

How muchee for ridee? ” repeated Sandy in a 
louder tone as the bullock-driver shook his bewildered 
head. “ Non savvy? Money, you know. All go 
ridee!” 

As he supplemented his remarks by producing a 
silver quarter, and the three other cadets at the same 
time took their seats in the cart, his meaning was now 
plain. The driver pointed eagerly to the quarter, and 
held up all his fingers and thumbs. 

“ Two dollars and a half! Not muchee! ” thundered 
Sandy. One dollar’s all we give for this trip, see? ” 
And he held up four fingers. 

The matter was compromised at last on the basis of 
half the sum first named, Sandy taking out his watch 
and moving his finger slowly round to twelve o’clock. 

The driver started the bullocks, and away went the 
team over the smooth cobblestones, a small boy walk- 
ing proudly in front. 

“ I wonder what that brigadier-general’s for? ” re- 
marked Sandy, viewing this addition to the party. 

Ah, I see,” as they reached the street corner, and the 
diminutive youth pulled the noses of the bullocks 
around to the right. Capital idea to warp us over 
onto another tack. Wish we had him ahead of the 
Monongahela in a light head breeze! Say, fellows, 
where do we want to go? ” 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 219 

“ To the post-office first/^ said Dave promptly. 
“ I’ve got half a dozen letters I want to mail. Tell 
him the post-office.” 

Sandy made a wry face and put his head out be- 
tween the curtains. 

“Say, you! Fernando Pol” he called to the 
bullock-driver, who came to the side of the sled with 
a grin. “We want go to post-office. Posto — see? 
Letters! Posto!” 

The man caught sight of Dave’s letters, and nodded 
vigorously. Saunders sank back into his seat with a 
sigh of relief, and the cart slid and slewed slowly on- 
ward over the stones until it came to a stand beside 
a jail-like-looking building, bearing over the door a 
shield with the Portuguese national arms, and the 
inscription “ Casa do CorreioP 

“ Come on,” said Sandy cheerfully, “ here’s the old 
Posto. I know it by the crown and seven castles. 
The king lives in each castle one day in the week, you 
know. Casey is the postmaster-general.” 

Up a steep flight of stairs they clattered, and Ticker- 
son volunteered to buy stamps for the crowd. 

“ Nineteen letters to America,” he said, holding up 
the bunch. 

The government official weighed each letter rapidly, 
and held up two fingers for one of them (Dave’s to 
Norman), implying that it was double. Then he made 
a rapid calculation, and announcing: 


220 


^AVV BLUE 


“ One thousand reis/’ tore off twenty stamps and 
passed them through the window. 

“One — thousand — reis! Great Scot!” exclaimed 
Sandy, staring at the others. “ What do they take us 
for — millionaires on a lark? ” 

“ What’s the postage on a letter to America, any- 
way? ” whispered Dave hurriedly. “ I thought ’twas 
five cents, like any other foreign country.” 

“ Oh, you can’t go by other countries in this for- 
saken islet,” said Sandy with a woebegone grimace. 
“ What do you expect of a place where the horses are 
all oxen? ” 

“ Well, the letters must be mailed, anyway, for 
we’ve all promised to write, I guess. So here goes,” 
said Girlie, passing in a ten-dollar bill, which, with 
Sandy’s silver quarter, represented the combined funds 
of the party. “ If we don’t have enough to pay the 
coachman, it’s the fault of this confounded Posto of 
yours, Sandy ” 

He paused in open-eyed wonder as the official be- 
gan to hand out change. First came a gold piece, 
then two or three paper notes of five hundred reis 
each, then silver, and lastly a handful of copper coins. 

A roar of laughter greeted Tickerson as he turned 
from the window. Dave and Whittaker, it seems, had 
taken pains a day or two before to obtain from the 
purser a table of Portuguese money-values, and knew 
perfectly well that it took ten reis to make one 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 


221 


cent. The whole bill for postage was therefore just 
a dollar. 

“ Well/’ said Treasurer Tickersoii, “ I’ve got a good 
fistful of change, anyway, and I feel rich as Vander- 
bilt. By and by I’m going to refresh myself with a 
fifty-reis bun, just to keep up the illusion.” 

The cadets now directed their coachman by ges- 
tures to drive about the streets of the city. Slowly 
the bullocks plodded along, occasionally urged by the 
driver or encouraged by the small boy ahead. They 
visited the public garden, and called on the American 
consul, but there was such a crowd waiting to see the 
governor that they concluded to omit a formal pres- 
entation to that august dignitary. 

Everywhere their progress was attended by a crowd 
of curious children, who commented openly on the 
natty uniforms of the Monongahela’s men, and 
thronged about them, offering nosegays for sale, or 
begging. A small stream ran through the centre of 
the town, walled in on both sides, and numbers of 
women were washing clothes in its current or spread- 
ing them to dry on the adjacent rocks. 

Most of the streets leading to the upper part of 
Funchal were bordered with high walls, overhung 
with geraniums, heliotropes, and nasturtiums in full 
bloom, and partly shaded by orange and lemon trees, 
laden with fruit. 

Ten o’clock found the boys on the steps of an old 


222 


NAVY BLUE. 


cathedral, high up on the slope. Here a new convey- 
ance presented itself, and the bullock-cart was dis- 
missed, to the delight of the driver, who received his 
full pay. 

At the upper end of a long, narrow street, paved 
with small stones like the rest, and leading to the 
lower city, were wicker sledges, not unlike the body 
of an old-fashioned country sleigh. The runners, as 
well as those of the bullock-carts, were shod with iron. 
Attached to each front corner was a short rope, the 
other end of which was held by a man on either side, 
to hold back the sledge in the steepest portions of the 
road. 

Girlie and Dave took their seats in one of these 
sledges, and down they started, with Saunders and 
Dumb close behind. It was an exhilarating ride, like 
coasting down a New England hillside in winter. 
Sliding, “ slewing,’^ scraping, down glided the sledges, 
the attendants running over easy grades, holding 
back on steeper ones, and occasionally jumping on 
behind or throwing a grease-bag ” in front of the 
runners to make them slip more easily over the smooth 
stones. 

“ Keep a good full. Farmer! ” shouted Sandy from 
behind. “ We’ve got stuns’ls set, and are bearing 
down on you. We’ll bump you yet, see if we don’t! ” 

Dave, turning his head at that moment, saw Sandy 
slyly passing a copper or two to the men and point- 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 223 

mg at the leading craft. Girlie immediately followed 
his example, and now the two sledges fairly flew. 
Two pretty Portuguese girls beside the track showed 
their white teeth and waved their hands as the cadets 
rushed past them, shouting with laughter. 

Reaching a point about half-way down the hill, the 
attendants began to slow up, and finally came to a 
stop opposite a small roadside shop. 

Vinho — bono! ” said one of them, pointing to the 
shop and smacking his lips. 

“ No, thanks, old fellow,” said Sandy. “ We’re tee- 
totallers. Let her go again.” 

Madeira^ Madeira! Vinho tinto! ” 

“ Yes, I know. I’ll stop in some time and try a 
glass of tinto next week. Get a move on, Alexandro 
Bartolemeo! ” 

Reluctantly the men started downward once more, 
and in due time the party reached the bottom of the 
hill without accident. 

Here a number of bullock-carts were waiting for 
custom, but the lads were too impatient to patronize 
these slow-moving vehicles again. 

'' Quarter past ten,” said Dumb Whittaker, con- 
sulting his watch. “ We’ve an hour and three quar- 
ters yet.” 

What’s the matter with a hammock ride a little 
way out of town? ” 

Hammock’s the word,” said Sandy, ready for any- 


224 


NAVY BLUE. 


thing novel in the way of progression. “Hi, there! 
Hammoko I ” 

His shout reached the ears of the passing squad 
of hammock-bearers, toward whom it was directed, 
and was easily translatable. Each cadet ensconced 
himself comfortably in a hammock, shaded by a gayly 
decorated canopy and borne on a pole by two men. 

“ This is the best yet, boys,” sung out Whittaker, 
who happened to be ahead. 

“ Right you are! ” answered his next neighbor. 
“ I feel like the fellow in ‘ She ’ going through an 
African swamp. Lead on. Dumb, and let me out 
when we reach the Amahaggar camp! ” 

They were soon out of the city streets, and passing 
in an easterly direction not far from the shore. On 
every side were copses of palm, cacti, sugar-cane, and, 
farther out, groves of Spanish chestnut. On the right 
was the vast spread of the Atlantic, dimmed by a thin 
mist which was gathering from the south and west. 
On the other hand the land rose abruptly, height be- 
yond height, to the summit of Pico Ruivo, over six 
thousand feet above the sea. Now and then they 
passed a small farmhouse, surrounded by its thrifty- 
looking curtilage, in which native laborers, mostly 
women with gay-colored scarfs, were at work. 

The path became wilder and narrower, and at last 
terminated in a small collection of fishermen’s huts 
near the shore. 


THE GLORIOUS FOURTH IN FUNCHAL. 225 

“ It’s time to turn back,” said Girlie; “ a little past 
eleven.” 

“ Look here,” said Dave as he spied a small row- 
boat drawn up on the shore, “ let’s pay off the 
bearers and go back by water. We can get a boat- 
man here to pull round.” 

“ Oh, it’s too hot and the hammock’s too comfort- 
able,” retorted Whittaker, yawning and stretching 
himself. 

'' And we might be late at the landing,” suggested 
Girlie. “ These old tubs are slow as caterpillars.” 

“ Well, why not divide forces? You and Dumb can 
go back in the hammocks, and Sandy and I will take 
the outside route. If we don’t get there first I’ll give 
you the next five-dollar gold piece I pick up.” 

I’m with you. Farmer! ” cried Saunders. “ Good- 
by, fellows. Girlie, pay my bills and keep account 
till we’re on board ship.” 

‘^Good-by! Take care of him, Rexdale! He’s 
young and far from home! ” 

With a laugh the parties separated, and the four 
hammocks, two full and two empty, were soon out of 
sight among the trees, while Dave and Sandy directed 
their steps toward the shore. 

At noon the various crews of the Monongahela 
joined their boats at the landing in Funchal, and 
pushed off one after another. The ship for some rea- 
son had shifted her anchorage, and was now nearer 
15 


226 


NAVY BLUE, 


the shore, well inside the breakwater which terminates 
with Loo Rock. Even at that short distance she 
could hardly be seen through the fog, which was 
driving in from the west. 

There’s foul weather coming,” said the executive 
officer to the cadet in charge of the deck. You’d 
better up anchor and get sea-room. Are the boats 
all aboard? ” 

At that minute a petty officer approached and 
saluted. 

^^Well, Mr. Norton?” 

“ I have to report, sir, that two of my crew are miss- 
ing. We waited as long as we dared, but had to leave 
them.” 

Who are they? ” 

Mr. Rexdale and Mr. Saunders.” 


CHAPTER XXV. 


THE CRUISE OF THE BANCROFT. 

“Portsmouth, N. H., 
'‘'July 17, 189 — 

‘ ‘ Dear Father : 

“ On the 15th of April we were ordered to express a preference 
for the line or the engineer corps. Visions of a summer course at 
the Academy fairly made the hair on twenty-four men’s heads stand 
on end in their anxiety to be among the lucky number selected for 
the corps ; but these visions were quickly dispelled when, on June 
6th, we were given thirty minutes in which to transfer our effects to 
the Bancroft^ our dear little practice ship ! 

‘ ‘ The next day (Sunday) we were kept on board all the morning. 
How nice the Academy grounds seemed to us as we paced up and 
down the hot decks of the ship, or stowed our lockers on the berth- 
deck ! Finally, however, we did get liberty until half-past nine. 

“ The next morning we got under way and convoyed the Monon- 
gahela out to sea for about a hundred miles. Late in the afternoon 
we headed in for Newport News, with nearly every one sick enough 
to die. Arriving in port the next morning, we went ashore to visit 
the shipworks, and found them so interesting that the visit was 
repeated each day of our week’s stay. Sketches were made of every- 
thing in sight, including plank walks,, coal shovels, and wheel- 
barrows. 

“ From Newport News we went to Chester, Pa., thence to Phila- 
delphia, where we visited Cramp’s shipyard, the Pencoyd Iron 
Works, Baldwin’s Locomotive Works, and numerous others. Sketch- 


228 


NAVY BLUE. 


ing continued from morning to night, until every one was almost 
a raving maniac. We learned to draw everything except our pay. 

“We next went to Elizabeth, N. J., mooring ship several days 
later at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where we stayed a week, during 
which time we were generously supplied with much liberty, and, as 
hinted above, little money. We anchored about five miles off 
Bridgeport, Conn., after leaving New York ; rowed ashore, and 
sacrificed our dinner to go through some brass works, where bicycle 
lamps and other commodities are made. 

“ Upon our return to the ship it was announced that the next 
morning we should go to New London, ‘ that fairyland of middies’ 
dreams,’ and that all the work in the engineer department would be 
done by the cadets. 

“ Oh ! how we worked the next morning ! Not infrequently 
would a cadet be seen coming up the fire-room hatch with his hands 
blistered. A boat-load of invitations reached us just after we came 
to anchor, and the two succeeding nights found us dancing to good 
music at the Fort Griswold Hotel. Hops and parties greeted us at 
Newport upon our arrival there, and it was with many sighs of 
regret from most of us that we set out for Boston. For the rest of 
the cruise sheets of class paper were frequently in demand. I’ve 
even been a little rash in that line myself, and have two or three 
small square, cream-colored notes postmarked ‘ Newport.’ Please 
don’t read that last sentence to Nettie ! 

“No one but Lat. Holmes was very enthusiastic when, on Satur- 
day afternoon, we had to row over from our anchorage to the 
Charlestown Navy Yard. Lat. was near home, and, sure enough, his 
mother and sister were on the government wharf to greet him the 
moment we touched. The sister is a nice-looking little thing, with 
blue eyes, a long braid, and a kind of taking way about her ; and 
some of the fellows rather envied Holmes for a minute or two after 
he stepped ashore. I thought of Net., and wished she was there. 
(You can read her that !) 


THE CRUISE OF THE BANCROFT. 


229 


“A garden party afforded us our next good time, and last, but 
not least, was the royal entertainment given us last night by the 
ladies of the Portsmouth Navy Yard. 

“ We shall run down the coast slowly and hope to meet the 
Monongahela (from Madeira) at Lynn Haven Bay, and, three or 
four days later, finish the cruise at Annapolis. You may be sure I 
shall lose no time in crossing the continent, starting the hour my 
leave begins. I ought to be in ’Frisco by the first of September, or 
soon afterward. Will telegraph you from Annapolis, stating when I 
shall arrive. Perhaps I shall have something to write about mean- 
while. • Affectionately, your son, 

“ Alfred S. Staples.* 

“To John R. Staples, Esq., 

“ 33 Redmond St., San Francisco, Cal.” 

It may be assumed from the young engineer’s letter, 
quoted above, that a practice cruise was no child’s 
play for the wearers of the oak-leaf. There was much 
in it, however, that was delightful, and many a time, 
during the cool evenings at sea when the parched 
land-dwellers were gasping for breath, that hot July, 
Norman wished that Dave was standing his watch 
beside him as the stout little Bancroft cleft the waters 
with her dainty stem, and the long-shore lighthouses 
sent their red and golden beams across the quivering 
waves. 

* The author feels that he owes an apology to the writer of this 
letter for copying it verbatim from the original document. He 
trusts that “ Tel. Staples” will pardon him for presuming so far, 
and accept his excuse that no words of his own could so tersely and 
accurately have transcribed the log of the Bancroft (as kept by the 
cadets of the E. C.) for this well-remembered summer cruise. 


230 


NAVV BLUE. 


The white ship was welcomed wherever she paused, 
especially in the northern ports, which were frequented 
by vacation people from the cities. Boston was 
deserted at the time of Norman’s arrival; that is, 
nearly all his friends who could afford to spend the 
heated term outside of the city were at the seashore 
or in the mountains. Hallie and Mrs. Holmes came 
up from Conway expressly to see him, and were warm 
in their hospitality toward his mates, some of whom 
they had met at Annapolis. 

It was late afternoon when the Bancroft, having 
steamed northward and rounded Cape Ann, turned 
her prow to the west, and, passing Whale’s Back Light, 
entered the Piscataqua. The tide was running out 
like a millrace, and it required careful navigation to 
take the steamer up-river to the Kittery shore, where 
the navy yard is established. She moved slowly past 
Fort Constitution, built on the site of old Fort William 
and Mary, where the Portsmouth patriots in 1774 
struck the first blow of the Revolution, six months 
before the battle of Lexington, by a night attack on 
the fort (then garrisoned by British soldiers), its cap- 
ture, and the removal of its guns and ammunition. 
Norman knew the story, for his great-grandfather had 
been a Portsmouth man; and he related it briefly to 
the cadets near him as they steamed past. 

Now they are abreast the sleepy, picturesque old 
town of Newcastle, its gambrel-roofed houses, gray 


THE CRUISE OF THE BANCROFT. 


231 


and mossy, fronting the little harbor and the winds of 
the Atlantic, as they have for more than a century. 
The great Wentworth Hotel, its roof showing over 
distant tree-tops, formed a striking contrast to these 
ancient and weather-beaten homesteads. 

The site of Fort McClary was soon left behind, on 
the right, and on a little' knoll, farther on, could be 
seen the white stones of the Kittery Point church- 
yard, peaceful resting-place of many an aged inhabi- 
tant of the village in bygone days. 

A struggle against the fierce tidal current of the 
narrows, and the Bancroft, emerging in the wide 
stretch of the upper harbor, turned toward the navy 
yard on the northern shore. 

Norman pointed out to his classmates the hulk of 
the old Constitution, which was then moored to the 
wharf. Her decks were housed in, but the antique 
lines of her hull could be plainly seen, and the 
thoughts of the young naval cadets went back to the 
days when the gleam of her lofty canvas on the 
horizon struck terror to the foe, and the thunder of 
her cannon rolled over the sea. Now, how peaceful 
she looked, dreaming there of her exploits of old! 

“ She ought to be at Annapolis,'^ said one of the 
upper-class men. “ It would do the fellows good 
just to look at her and remember her history.” 

“ Yes,” put in another, “ and she could be fitted up 
and rigged just as she was in 1812, and used as a train- 


232 


JVAFV BLUE. 


ing-ship. I’m going to write my folks about it, and 
see if father can’t get up a petition to Congress 
to have her sent to the Naval Academy, where she 
belongs.” 

“So say we all of us!” exclaimed two or three; 
but further remark was interrupted by the Bancroft's 
approach to the wharf, where a marine sentinel was 
pacing to and fro. 

The ship was soon moored and put in order for her 
brief stay at the navy yard. The next day the cadets 
were given afternoon leave on shore. Norman and 
Staples went ashore together, crossing the river in 
the navy yard launch, which was courteously placed 
at the disposal of the Bancroft's men. They landed 
near the “ fish market,” in Portsmouth, and walked 
through the old city, locating the site of Staver’s 
Tavern, from which the first coach ran to Boston; the 
“ parade,” and other historic spots. 

Hallie and her mother, being apprised of the destina- 
tion of the Bancroft, had decided to break the journey 
to the mountains, and stop a couple of days at the 
Shoals. Norman applied for and obtained a special 
leave of absence, on the second day at Portsmouth, 
to run out to Appledore and see them. He took the 
early steamer at the Portsmouth wharf not far from 
“ Navy Yard Landing,” and after a pleasant ten-mile 
sail down the river and out to sea, arrived at the island, 
where he was, of course, met at the wharf by Miss 


THE CRUISE OF THE BANCROFT. 


233 

Hallie and a bevy of her girl friends — for she had 
friends everywhere. 

There wasn’t very much time at his disposal, the 
steamer returning at three; but the party of young 
people managed to explore the rocky little islet pretty 
thoroughly, and Norman gained glory by building a 
splendid fire of drift-wood. He was besieged by the 
girls for stories of academy and ship life, and, being 
somewhat of a hero, in his blue cap and uniform, we 
may guess that he had a good time. Mrs. Holmes 
was gratified at seeing heads turn, in the long dining- 
room, to look at her erect, manly son, while Hallie 
was so proud of her cadet brother that she couldn’t 
keep her eyes off his sun-burned face. 

After dinner there was music on the piazza, and 
then merry talk, and the latest Granite letter to be 
read aloud. Norman secretly missed Anemone every 
minute, but a letter, even to one’s mother, was the 
next best thing. 

The good time came to an end, as all good times 
must, to make room for others, as autumn leaves are 
crowded off the bough by spring buds. The little 
steamer danced away over the waves toward Ports- 
mouth, and in due time Norman was on board the 
Bancroft, ready for work once more. That night he 
received a twelve-page letter, postmarked “ Funchal, 
July 3,” from Dave Rexdale. As he eagerly devoured 
its contents he little guessed the excitement on the 


234 


NAVY BLUE. 


Monongahela a few hours after it was mailed, or the 
perils, so near at hand, which were to beset the writer 
and his chum, Harry Saunders, whom we have left 
too long, on their way down the rocky path of the 
Madeira fishing hamlet toward the small green boat 
that was destined to play a prominent part in their 
immediate future. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


SWEPT OUT TO SEA. 

“ I don’t see any men about/' said Dave, halting 
near one of the huts. 

“ Well, let’s take a look at the boat. That’ll bring 
’em out if anything will. We haven’t any time to 
spare.” 

The boat proved to b.e small and old. It had the 
regular Madeira stern-post and prow, thrusting up 
nearly a yard above the gunwale, and was painted 
bright green. A soiled scarlet cushion lay on one of 
the thwarts. 

“ Hallo ! ” exclaimed Sandy as the boys examined 
her, she’s no good! She’s docked for repairs — look 
at this hole! ” 

Dave uttered an exclamation of disgust as he sur- 
veyed the aperture. The boat had been stove against 
some obstruction, and one strake ” knocked in, 
making a gaping and splintered hole big enough to 
put your arm through, about four inches above the 
water-line and two or three feet from the stem. 

“ You can see where the water-line comes,” said 

Rexdale, pointing to a well-defined zone of faded 

235 


236 


NAVY BLUE. 


paint. “ The question is whether we’d sink her below 
that. Let’s run her into the water and try it.” 

Here they were interrupted by a wizened old 
woman who tottered down from one of the hovels 
to the shore, and with excited gesture^ made a long 
and voluble speech, of which the young Americans, of 
course, could not understand a word. * 

Is she mad with us for handling the boat, do you 
suppose? ” suggested Dave. 

Don’t believe it. She has an amiable look in 
her right eye. You lettee boat, ma’am? Boat? 
Boat! ” shouted Sandy. “ No, she can’t gather in a 
good English word like that.” 

“ Try her on signals. Here, Senora — ” and Dave 
took — literally — a hand in the conversation. He 
went through the motions of rowing, pointed to the 
house, the sea (with a wide sweep around toward 
Funchal), and, lastly, at himself and Sandy. Then he 
held up a silver coin equivalent to about half a dollar. 

The aged fisherwoman nodded eagerly, and indi- 
cated her willingness that they should push the little 
craft into the water; but she shook her head as she 
pointed to the house. 

“ Oh, the old gentleman is away? ” 

The fishwife pointed to the path leading to the • 
city. 

Yes, yes, of course; he’s gone to town to get a job 
in the harbor, his own boat being stove. I’m getting 


SWEPT OUT TO SEA. 


237 

on famously, Sandy. It takes me to talk Portuguese. 
Now see me consult her as to repairs.” 

He pointed to the hole in the boat’s side, and made 
gestures as if he were swimming, while Sandy bent 
double with laughter to see his grave antics. 

Not so the third member of the group. She shook 
her head twenty or thirty times, and then climbing 
into the boat, tore off a tattered red shawl from her 
shoulders and thrust it into the hole. 

“ Well,” said Sandy dubiously, “ that’s quick work, 
but if we sit pretty well aft so’s to settle her down by 
the stern we may keep the hole out of water. I hope 
none of the fellows will see us, though! We’d never 
hear the last of it. Bear a hand here, Dave, and we’ll 
launch the old tub, anyway.” 

Seizing the gunwales, the two cadets ran the boat 
down over the sand and into the water, and Sandy 
jumped in. 

Pay up, and come on!” he cried. “She’ll float 
long enough to reach Funchal, and I’m not going to 
foot it back over that hilly path while there’s a plank 
to be had. Come on, Farmer! ” 

Dave handed the silver piece to the old crone, and 
sprang aboard, pushing the boat off as he did so. 

The owner no sooner saw them safely off than she 
pointed to the horizon, and hailed the cadets. 

“ A nevoa se levante! ” * 


* “ A fog is coming! 


238 


JVAFV BLUE, 


“ Same to you/’ called Sandy, waving his cap. 

“ O vente se lev ant e ; havemos una tempestade! ” * 
shrieked the woman, clutching her coin in one hand 
and pointing to the west with the other. 

“ All right, we’ll find him! ” returned the jolly cadet. 
“ She says we must hand the boat over to her husband 
when we get to Funchal, Rexdale,” he added with a 
twinkle in his eye. At any rate, she’s got something 
on her mind; but as we can’t relieve her, off we go! ” 

“ I’ll take the oars for the first half,” said Dave, 
shipping them between the thole-pins, and then you 
can bring us into port.” 

“ Give way lively then, my son. Time’s flying, and 
we’ve got to follow suit to beat those landlubbers in 
the hammocks. There’s no rudder, so you’ll have to 
steer with the oars. I’ll sit here in the stern-sheets 
and give you the course.” 

'' Gracious, she pulls like a raft,” said Dave after a 
few strokes. I’m afraid we’ll be late, after all. 
Which way, Sandy? ” 

“ Starboard,” said the navigator with a wave of his 
hand. “ Look here. Farmer,” he added, a little more 
soberly, the wind’s shifted more to the west’ard, 
and its driving in a fog thick enough to sail on. Keep 
the old Portugee on the move, and when you’re tired 
I’ll spell you.” 

Dave pulled away with a will, but as the boat 

* “ The wind is rising ; we shall have a storm! ” 


SWEPT OUT TO SEA. 


239 


headed more and more toward the west and left the 
shelter of the broken shore bluffs, it began to feel the 
full force of the head-wind. 

It’s her nose sticking up out of the water that 
catches the breeze,” puffed Dave as for the twentieth 
time he tugged at his port oar to keep the craft head 
on to the sea. “ I almost wish we’d followed the 
other fellows. You don’t think we’d better go back, 
Sandy? ” 

Not a bit of it! The United States navy doesn’t 
go back! Pull a dozen strokes and let me breathe 
you, old fellow.” 

But Dave gave a good many more than a dozen 
pulls before he yielded his place. They had no sooner 
exchanged seats, which was accomplished with some 
difficulty in the choppy sea that had sprung up, when 
Sandy uttered an exclamation. 

We’re out of sight of land! Why didn’t you tell 
me! ” he cried as he plied the oars vigorously. 

It’s the fog. It closed in about three minutes 
ago. We’re all right. The wind gives us our course.” 

I should — think — it did! ” ejaculated Sandy, tug- 
ging with all his might to keep the boat out of the 
trough of the waves, which were every moment in- 
creasing in height. 

“ Look here,” said Dave suddenly, “ there’s an inch 
of water in her. It must be coming in through that 
big leak.” 


240 


JVAFV BLUE. 


'' The prima donna’s shawl isn’t much for caulking 
on a dead beat to windward, is it? ” gasped Sandy. 
“ I’m heavier than you, and she’s down further by the 
bows.” 

Swisk-h-h, A wave broke just ahead, and the white 
foam frothed and bubbled past them, almost on a level 
with the gunwales. The fog was now so thick that 
the boys could not see the water half a dozen boat- 
lengths away. 

'‘We must come about, Sandy,” shouted Dave 
above the roar of the wind. “ The old tub’s taking in 
water every minute, and she’ll never keep afloat from 
here to Funchal. Besides, we aren’t gaining an inch 
ahead.” 

Even Sandy, stubborn though he was, could see 
that it was folly to keep on. Still he tugged away 
manfully. 

“ I — don’t like — ” he began; when crack! went one 
of the oars just beyond the thole-pins, and over went 
Sandy on his back. 

Instantly the boat was broadside-on to the big sea, 
which threatened to capsize it before Dave could 
catch the remaining oar from Sandy, and by pad- 
dling desperately, throw the bows round from the 
wind. 

“ Can’t we scull her? ” shouted Sandy as he re- 
gained his seat on the thwart. 

Dave pointed to the elevated stern of the boat. 


SWEPT OUT TO SEA. 


241 

curving inward and upward to the upright timber that 
projected higher than their heads. 

“ ril keep her before it, and try to work in toward 
the land,’' he cried. “ Bail out, if you can, Sandy.” 

“ No bailer! ” 

Take your cap! ” 

It was too bad to ruin that elegant adjunct to the 
cadet uniform, but it was now a life-and-death matter. 
Sandy bailed away with all his might, while the boat, 
pitching and rolling heavily, drifted before the wind at 
the rate of four or five knots an hour. Nearly every 
wave was now capped with foam, and every minute 
or two one would break over the stern, drenching 
Dave to the skin and flooding the bottom of the boat. 

He did his best to gain toward the land, but this 
could only be done in the comparative lulls between 
gusts of wind and heavy seas, when all his energies 
were directed to keeping the dilapidated craft afloat. 
The boys now realized their danger of being swept 
entirely past Madeira and out to sea. They still 
hoped, however, by constantly working in a northerly 
direction, to make the island, of which they knew 
only that the length was about thirty miles, and that 
Funchal was somewhere on the southern shore. They 
did not know that they had already passed Garajao, or 
Brazen Head,” from which the coast-line falls away 
sharply to the northeast, and that they were driving 
directly out upon the hundreds of miles of tossing 
16 


242 


JVAFV BLUE. 


ocean that lay between them and Cape Bojador, the 
nearest point of the continent of Africa. 

Sandy,” gasped Dave at length, I’m getting 
used up. Can you paddle awhile? ” 

The boat rose on a huge wave as he spoke, and 
balanced on the crest, that broke under the keel with 
a roar, and barely missed capsizing them. 

“ Close call, that! ” shouted Sandy, dropping on his 
hands and knees and creeping toward the stern, while 
Dave took his place and began to bail. 

It’s no use,” yelled Sandy, after another escape 
from capsizing; get ready for a swim, Dave, and 
hang on to the boat if we go over! ” 

“I’ve got an idea!” called back Rexdale, bailing 
furiously as he talked. “ Why can’t we rig a sea- 
anchor and ride to it? ” 

No sooner said than done. There was a twenty- 
foot painter attached to a ring in the bows. With the 
other end of this rope the lads hurriedly lashed to- 
gether the remaining oar, the fragment of the one 
they had broken, and the two thwarts. These were 
flung overboard, and there was a breathlessly perilous 
moment as the boat swung slowly round to the weight 
of the drag. 

“Hurrah!” shouted Sandy, wiping the salt spray 
from his eyes. “It’s a go! You ought to have a 
buzzard for that notion. Farmer! Look at the old 
girl, how she tugs ! ” 


SWEPT OUT TO SEA. 


243 


The two cadets, now soaked to the skin, crouched 
in the bottom of the boat, which, with her bows pointed 
toward the wind, rode much more easily, though she 
occasionally shipped a small sea. With her nose well 
out of water, she tugged at the rope and shook it like 
a spirited horse as she backed from the sea-anchor, 
which, presenting no appreciable surface to the wind, 
served admirably to keep her in position. 

For several hours the boat drifted astern in this 
way, the boys taking turns in bailing, the sea growing 
more boisterous as the afternoon wore on. Once or 
twice they thought they heard the whistle of the 
Monongahela far to windward, but it soon ceased. 

Dave was just pouring a capful of water over the 
side, when Sandy caught his arm. 

“ Hark! ” he cried. “ What’s that? ” 

Dave listened intently, and above the rushing of the 
wind and waves arose at intervals a low, deep rumble 
like distant thunder. 

Breakers! ” 

Sandy was a brave fellow, but his ruddy face turned 
white. 

“ Then within ten minutes we’ll be safe — or dead ! ” 

The booming of the surf became every moment 
more distinct through the fog. The boat seemed to 
feel a new lift of the waves, as if in shallower water. 

“ Pull in the anchor! ” shouted Dave from the 
stern-sheets. “ Our one oar may save us.” 


244 


NAVY BLUE, 


The drag was hastily drawn aboard, and, perilous 
though the movement was, the position of the boat 
was once more reversed. Running before the wind, 
she now seemed fairly to leap toward the unseen 
breakers, whose mighty roar filled all the air. 

“Look!” screamed Sandy. “Head her for that 
crack if you can, Dave! It’s our only chance! ” 

The fog had lifted slightly, and disclosed within 
hardly more than a biscuit-toss a lofty headland, with 
precipitous rocks reaching far up into the mist. At 
their feet boiled a surf in which no boat could live 
an instant. Thousands of sea-birds fluttered to and 
fro on the dark cliffs, their wild cries sounding shrilly 
above even the thunder of the breakers. 

Dave saw at a glance the crevice to which his com- 
panion had pointed. It was an opening in the rocks 
perhaps a hundred feet wide, with a pebbly beach 
shelving to the sea. As Sandy said, their only sal- 
vation — and of that but a faint hope — lay in beaching 
the boat at that point. The New Hampshire boy set 
his teeth and wielded the oar with all his strength, 
yet with utmost care, lest it should snap like the other. 

On rode the boat soaring on the crests of the in- 
rushing waves, and diving deep into the hollows as 
if each plunge was its last. Nearer and nearer the 
opening surged the little green craft, until it was al- 
most opposite the longed-for point, when a cry and a 
frenzied gesture from Sandy made Dave look past his 


SWEPT OUT TO SEA, 


245 


shoulder. High over the doomed boat hung the huge 
green front of a wave far larger than any that had 
come before. Right above their heads it broke with 
a crash like Niagara. 

Dave felt the boat, himself, and all hurled through 
the air like a stone from a sling. The roar of “ great 
guns was in his ears; tons of water poured over his 
head; then came a tremendous shock, and the world 
was blotted out. 


/ 


CHAPTER XXVIL 


CAST AWAY ON THE DESERTAS. 

Slowly, as out of a black pit, Dave rose to daylight 
and consciousness. At first he thought he was dream- 
ing, then that he was on the old farm at Granite, hunt- 
ing partridges. He was lying on a mossy ledge, his 
head resting on a wet but comfortable pillow, which 
he did not then recognize as a folded cadet blouse. 
Close beside him crackled and sparkled a glorious 
fire, the green-painted splints of which its fuel was 
composed blazing cheerily and sending out a com- 
fortable warmth. Over his head and all around him, 
except in front, was a seamed and fissured wall of 
rock, covered with lichens and moss. The air was 
filled with a dull roar. 

A step was heard beyond the fire, and the ship- 
wrecked lad, recognizing Sandy’s burly form, sud- 
denly remembered everything. He tried to rise to his 
feet, but a sharp pain in his left ankle made him groan 
and, for the time being, relinquish the attempt. 

Hullo, old fellow!” exclaimed Sandy, springing 
quickly to his side. “ Here you are, in the land of the 
living at last 1 ” 


CAST AWAY ON THE DESERT AS. 


247 


He tried to laugh in his accustomed way as he 
knelt beside his chum, but his lips twitched, and his 
cheeks were wet with something besides the spray of 
the booming surf. 

Where are we? ” asked Dave confusedly. How 
did I get here? The last I remember ” 

“ Don’t think about it. Farmer,” interrupted Sandy. 
“We came ashore rather suddenly, but it’s all right 
now. All we have to do is to live on the fat of the 
land till somebody comes for us, unless we choose to 
walk back to Funchal.” 

Dave made another effort to sit up straight. 

“ You’re in your shirt-sleeves, Sandy! ” 

“ Oh, it’s too hot for a coat in here by the fire.” 

Dave reached round behind him and shook out 
Sandy’s blouse. 

“ Put that on, old chap, or hang it up to dry. I’m 
not going to lie here keeled over in the sick-bay while 
you shiver. Put it on, I say I ” And Saunders was 
fain to obey. 

“ Now tell me about it. I’m all right.” 

“ Well,” said Sandy, “ that big wave sent us ashore 

on the run. As luck would have it ” Here a 

look in Dave’s face made him pause and throw 
another stick on the fire. 

“Well,” he said; “that’s so!” 

This was their way of giving thanks. 

“ Anyway, we were heaved up right onto that bit 


248 


NAVY BLUE. 


of beach, the only place in sight where it wouldn’t 
have been sure death to land. The boat rolled over 
and so did we. I was phased for a minute; then I 
saw you lying doubled up, just where another wave 
would pick you off nicely. The boat was ‘ hogged,’ 
on a big rock, on one side. If either of us had struck 
that ! ” 

'' Go on, old fellow,” said Dave quietly. 

I pulled you up onto dry land; then skirmished 
round and found this little cave, where I brought you. 
You hadn’t a sign of life about you, and as I rubbed 
away, I thought — I was afraid .” Sandy swal- 

lowed hard, and kicked the fire. 

After a few minutes you began to breathe and 
look more like yourself, so I got my blouse off so’s 

to work easier ” 

I understand,’^ nodded Dave. 

“And took a look at the old craft which had 
brought us safe ‘ over the seas and far away.’ Her 
day was over. She was stove right through the bot- 
tom; a good part of her timbers had been swept out 
to sea again, and I brought the rest, with that one 
precious old oar, and Senhora Christina Isabella’s 
shawl, up here, where I got out my little tin match- 
box and straightway proceeded to build a fire, as you 
perceive. Now let’s find out how many broken bones 
you’ve got! ” 

“ Aren’t you hurt? ” 


CAST AWAY ON THE DESERT AS. 


249 


“ Oh, I merely feel as if two or three football teams 
had been jumping on me for first down,” said Sandy, 
stretching himself with caution and groaning whim- 
sically. 

Well, my ankle hurts like fun, but I guess it’s 
only a bad sprain where I fell doubled up on the 
beach. I’m sore all over, but that don’t count.” 

“ Then we’re good for formation yet,” rejoined the 
other heartily, “ only we’ll need a little ' setting up ’ 
before we’re thoroughly graceful. How’d you like 
a nice, lively two-step in the gym. to-night. Farmer? ” 
Dave laughed, in spite of his aches, as he with 
difficulty rose to his feet. 

“ I’ll let you do the dancing this time, Sandy. 
You’ve forgotten your white gloves, though!” 

The cadet glanced at his scratched and torn hands. 
“ Right you are. And this isn’t exactly regulation 
hop costume. We’ll be papped to-morrow, sure! ” 
Talking lightly in this way, perhaps to put out of 
sight temporarily, at least’ the memory of the frightful 
peril they had just escaped and the gloomy outlook, 
the boys busied themselves for a few minutes in rub- 
bing their bruised limbs, attending to the fire, and 
spreading out the shawl and their soaked upper gar- 
ments to dry. 

Now, Dave,” said Sandy, “ it’s getting on towards 
night, and I’m going out to explore. We may be 
within five minutes of a house, and if I don’t muster 


250 


NAVY BLUE. 


enough Portuguese to let ’em know that I’m hungry, 
I’ll eat my cap.” 

“ Don’t do it,” laughed Rexdale. It’s too handy 
in a leaky boat. Besides, I’ve lost mine in the wreck 
and I want yours half the time. What I do want is a 
good drink of cold water.’^ 

"‘Yum! So do I! Even a glass of tinto would 
go to the right spot. Well, I’ll be back in half an 
hour or so. You keep house, and stand by for rations 
when you see me heave in sight, loaded down with 
morangos and roast turkey.” 

Off went the jolly young mariner, limping a little, 
it is true, but as full of pluck as ever. It’s astonishing 
what an amount of drenching and bruising and hard 
usage generally a sailor can stand, let alone a naval 
cadet. 

Dave dragged himself to the mouth of the cave to 
witness his comrade’s departure up the ravine, and 
then busied himself in collecting driftwood and moss, 
which he carefully put under shelter, as a fine, driz- 
zling rain had begun to fall. 

It was nearly dark when Saunders returned from 
his exploring tour. He climbed slowly down over 
the rocks to the cave, which was about fifty feet be- 
yond and above high-water mark. It had been a 
terrible strain, battered as he was, to carry his insen- 
sible shipmate to this place of refuge, but of this he 
had said nothing. 


CAST AWAY ON THE DESERT AS. 


251 

“ Hullo, Sandy! Home again? I’d begun to worry 
about you. What on earth have you got there? ” 

“ The oldest inhabitant,” said Sandy, panting as he 
threw down a good-sized rabbit. In his other hand 
he bore a rusty tin can, which he proffered to Dave. 

Drink, pretty creature, drink,” said he; “ and 
mind you don’t throw away what’s left. That couple 
of quarts of fresh water have got to last us till 
morning.” 

Dave took a long draught of the delicious fluid. 

“ Better than tinto, isn’t it. Farmer?” 

It is that 1 ” said Rexdale with a sigh of satisfac- 
tion. “ I never had anything taste so good in my 
life.” He carefully deposited the precious can on a 
shelf of rock. “ Now tell me about your trip and that 
rabbit, Sandy. Find any houses?” 

Not a woodshed. It’s the dreariest old place you 
ever saw — ^just rocks, sand, and grass. Not a tree 
in sight, nor a sign of life, except sea-birds and rabbits. 
There’s hundreds of them hopping about and cocking 
up their ears at you; and the birds live in the holes, 
as near’s I could make out. I brought this fellow 
down with a stone. Sorry, but we can’t live on grass, 
you know! I’m glad I learned to throw a baseball 
straight.” 

“ Where’^d you find water? ” 

“ There’s a spring up on the hill just above here, 
and the old can was lying in the sand beside it. So 


r 


252 


NAVY BLUE, 


this corner of Madeira can’t be wholly deserted. Per- 
haps when the fog lifts to-morrow we can find out 
where we are. Now, then, how can we cook this 
animal? I don’t want to eat him raw, but Pm just 
about hungry enough to.” 

“ Don’t you worry. Pve cooked rabbits in the 
woods before now. Toss him over here.” 

Sandy did as he was directed, and watched the 
farmer boy as he skilfully divested bunny of his fur 
coat and dressed him for cooking. 

“ There, throw away what we don’t want, and see 
if you can give him a good wash in a pool down by 
the shore, will you, Sandy? Perhaps that’ll partly 
supply the want of salt. Don’t tumble in yourself! ” 
Ten minutes later the rabbit, neatly spitted, was 
roasting before the fire. Dave turned him at intervals, 
the spit being stuck into a handy crevice of the rocks. 

“ I tell you that smells good! ” exclaimed Sandy, 
sniffing rapturously. “ Isn’t he most done? ” 

“ Pretty nearly. There — wait till I carve him.’^ 
The meat was scorched black, and it was rather 
unevenly cooked, being about raw in some spots and 
burned to a crisp in others, but the two castaways 
declared it went ahead of Delmonico’s. 

“ A little salt would improve it,” admitted Saunders, 
gnawing away vigorously at a bone. “ If ’twasn’t so 
dark I’d go down and dip it in the Atlantic Ocean.” 
All this time the surges were beating against the 


CAS 7' A IV AY ON T71E DESERT AS. 


253 


cliffs below them, less than twenty yards away. The 
sound was almost like the continuous roar of Niagara 
Falls, and the boys had to speak loudly to make 
themselves heard. They took a good drink of water 
after their feast, and stretching themselves out by the 
fire, fought their battles over again. 

At last they began to feel drowsy. The uproar of 
the sea was somewhat deadened, as they sat well within 
the . cave, and proved rather soothing than otherwise. 
Snuggling up together, they pulled the warm, dry 
shawl over them, and after a silence, during which 
each knew the other was saying his prayers, bade 
each other good-night, and were soon as sound asleep 
as if they lay in their hammocks on board the 
Monongahela, which at that moment was hove to 
about thirty miles away on the ocean. 

It was hardly broad daylight the next morning 
when Sandy began to wriggle in his sleep, and pres- 
ently stretching out arms and legs, brought up against 
the rock on one side and Dave’s head on the other. 

“ Ow-wow-wow ! ” he yawned, sitting up and star- 
ing about him. “ Hallo, Dave, you awake? ” 

‘‘ It isn’t your fault if I’m not! ” said Dave, yawning 
in his turn and good-humoredly rubbing his head. 
“ Whew, I ache in every bone of my body.” 

So do I. It’s an equilibrium of forces that would 
— ah-h-h ” (another yawn) delight Savvy Bob.” 

Let’s get up; it’s six o’clock,” said Dave, con- 


254 


NAVY BLUE. 


suiting his watch, which luckily had not sufYered from 
the immersion of the day before. 

Groaning and limping, the two shipwrecked boys 
gained their feet and began gathering fragments of the 
boat for their fire. Their clothing was saturated with 
the fog, which still blotted out sky and ocean, but the 
surf was much quieter, and the first breath of air out- 
side the cave showed them that the wind had shifted 
back to its fair-weather quarter. 

As soon as a fire was lighted and the aches rubbed 
out of his stiff joints Sandy started off once more, can 
in hand, to forage for the camp, the larder being again 
empty. He returned twenty minutes later with a 
fresh supply of water and a couple of sea-birds, which 
Dave, who remembered their pictures in a book of 
natural history, pronounced to be puffins. Duly 
plucked and roasted, the eatable portions made but a 
scanty meal for the hungry lads. 

“ The fog’s lifting a good deal,” said Sandy on the 
return from his expedition. “ I could see quite a dis- 
tance over the water. In an hour the sun will be out.” 

“ The first thing to do after breakfast is to rig that 
shawl up for a flag, and raise it where ’twill be seen.” 

As soon as the birds were disposed of — and the 
process was not a long one — the boys lashed the tat- 
tered red shawl by its corners to the oar, which had 
been carefully preserved for this purpose, and set out 
for the top of the hill, Dave leaning heavily on his 


CAST AWAY ON THE DESERT AS. 


255 


comrade’s shoulder, and using the oar as a staff. In 
this manner they made their way slowly upward over 
the rocks, stopping to rest every few minutes. 

“ What’s this stuff, I wonder,” said Saunders, pull- 
ing a queer-looking lichen off the face of a boulder 
beside the way. 

Dave, who was quite a botanist, scanned it closely. 

I’m not sure,” he said, “ but it looks like ' orchil ’ 
or ^ orchella weed,’ as it’s described in the books. I 
never saw any before.” 

“ Is it any good? ” 

“ The Portuguese get it from all the islands here- 
abouts, and sell it to manufacturers, who make a sort 
of purple dye out of it. There isn’t much on Madeira 
itself, I believe, but ” 

He paused suddenly and looked about him with a 
puzzled air. 

^^Well?” 

“ Do you suppose it’s possible — no, it carCt be! ” 

''Of course it can’t! What?” asked the other, 
patiently. 

" Wait till we get up a little higher. Then we can 
see where we are.” 

" I know that well enough,” said Sandy, starting on. 
" We’re in the extreme southeasterly corner of Ma- 
deira, instead of on the spar-deck of the Monongahela, 
where we ought -to be. Look — there comes the sun, 
thank goodness ! ” 


256 


JVAFV BLUE. 


Reaching at length what seemed to be the top of 
the hill, they drove the handle of the oar into the sandy 
soil, and the light breeze lifted the folds of their little 
signal of distress until it blew out bravely in the sun- 
light, which brightened every moment. 

As the fog dispersed before the wind, more and 
more of the landscape came into view, and at last 
the whole vast expanse of the ocean was clear, and the 
land, too, threw off the veil it had worn for so many 
hours. 

Sandy cast one rapid look about him, then turned 
to Dave in blank amaze. On every side was water, 
water, as far as the eye could reach, except in the 
northwest, where a line of blue mountains blocked 
the far distant horizon beyond the intervening miles 
of gleaming ocean. 

“ Yes,” said Dave quietly, answering the open- 
mouthed wonder of his comrade; “ I thought so. You 
see we’re not on Madeira at all.” 

“ Then where in the world ” 

“ We’re cast away on the Desertas! ” 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 


THE RESCUE. 

The executive officer of the Monongahela was greatly 
disturbed by the report of the absence of the two 
cadets, whose conduct was generally exemplary, on 
shore or afloat. The authorities recognized the fact 
that Funchal would offer many temptations to the 
young seamen, and not only had limited both their 
money and their liberty,” but had kept rather a 
closer watch on the movements of the more wayward 
than they themselves knew. One fellow had entered 
a low wine shop, for instance, with two or three of 
his chums, and was in the act of ordering a treat all 
round, which would probably have rendered them 
unfit for duty, when they caught sight of bright but- 
tons and stripes on the opposite side of the narrow 
street, and guiltily sneaked out of the shop, without a 
drink, as soon as the officer had passed. 

Rexdale and Saunders, however, had needed no 
espionage. They were known to be staunch teeto- 
tallers, and the commander of the ship had no hesita- 
tion in trusting them to go where they liked. 

Whittaker and Tickerson were closely questioned 
17 


258 


NAVY BLUE. 


as to their movements on shore, and after a brief 
consultation of officers, with frequent looks at the 
lowering sky. Girlie was sent back, accompanied by 
two petty officers (one of whom could speak Portu- 
guese fluently), with orders to hunt up the absentees 
and await the^^hip’s return to Funchal. 

All this took time, although a native boatman was 
hired to put the cadets ashore, and the fog was closing 
in every minute. The Monongahela now weighed an- 
chor, and put to sea under steam with all possible 
despatch. The wind rose with almost tropical sudden- 
ness, and at a distance of a dozen leagues or so from 
the island the ship was brought up to it, with just 
enough speed tO' keep steerageway on. 

It was a disagreeable night for all on boar-d. The 
sea ran high, and the motion of the vessel was a stag- 
gering pitch exceedingly trying to even the seasoned 
constitutions of the cadets who had boasted of their 
immunity from seasickness. 

At early dawn the Monongahela^ s bells rang Half 
speed,’’ and then “ Ahead, full,” as the fog lifted, and 
by nine o’clock she was once more at her moorings 
in Funchal harbor. 

The anchor was kept at the cathead, while a ‘signal 
was displayed for the three cadets to come on board. 
A small boat was soon seen putting out from the 
landing, and the officers, advancing to the executive, 
made their report. 


THE RESCUE, 


259 


Under guidance of Tickerson, they had been quickly 
carried in hammocks over the hill path to the fishing 
settlement, and had proceeded at once to the hut from 
which the old woman had emerged. The place was 
empty, and inquiry at a neighbor’s failed to reveal 
the whereabouts of either of the owners of the boat. 
It was now blowing hard, and, realizing the danger to 
which the young seamen were exposed, they were 
probably afraid that some punishment would be 
visited upon them for letting the boys go to sea in a 
leaky boat, and so were in concealment. 

It was of no use to hunt for them, and the party 
returned to Funchal, where they reported the affair to 
the American consul. Nothing could be done that 
night, but the police were already at work, and would 
probably succeed in finding the old fisherman and his 
wife before long. 

“ That won’t bring back my men,” exclaimed the 
executive impatiently. Then, turning to the cadet 
officer of the deck, he said, “ You will get under way 
at once, Mr. Martyn, and bear off to the southeast. 
They may have been blown out to Las Desertas, if 
their craft kept afloat so long.” 

Fortunately for his peace of mind, he did not know 
the full extent of the peril to which the cadets had 
been exposed, for neither Tickerson nor Whittaker 
had seen the condition of the boat in which their 
chums had embarked. 


26 o 


JVAFV BLUE. 


Under full head of steam, the Monongahela slowly 
backed round and then forged ahead, taking her 
course straight for the desolate heaps of rock which 
Dave and Sandy were at this moment preparing to 
abandon. 

When Rexdale made his rather dramatic announce- 
ment Saunders was silent for a moment. He gazed 
stupidly at the wide circle of the sea, the grass-grown 
summit of the island on which he stood, and at half 
a dozen rabbits which were scampering away with 
long bounds to their burrows. 

“ Well,” said he at length, “ if I haven’t been an 
ass! I might have known we’d passed the end of 
Madeira long before we were brought up, all stand- 
ing, in the breakers. But our drift must have 
been tremendous! How far are we from Funchal, 
Dave? ” 

“ Oh, fifteen or twenty miles.” 

“ Too far to swim,” said Sandy gravely. “ How 
are we going to get back. Farmer? If we’re going 
to stay here much longer, I must have another 
rabbit! ” 

“ If I’m not mistaken, we shall be off the island and 
running for Madeira within half an hour,” said Dave 
quietly. “ Look there, my boy! ” 

Sandy looked eagerly in the direction indicated. 

Oh,” he said in a disappointed way, ‘‘ I hoped you 
saw the royals of the old Monongahela! 


THE RESCUE. 


261 

“ No, but the boat we’re going ashore in, just the 
same. Look again, old fellow! ” 

“ H’m, that’s so,” exclaimed the other, after a 
minute. “ There’s a catboat, or something like it, 
making out here, sure’s shooting! ” 

Surer than ’tis on this island, where there’s noth- 
ing but rocks to fire,” laughed Dave, his mind greatly 
relieved by the appearance of the sail. 

There’s another one behind it,” cried Sandy, 
shading his eyes with his hand. “ What do you sup- 
pose they’re coming out to this forsaken spot for? ” 

“ That same weed or lichen we stopped to look at,” 
said Dave conclusively. They must be orchil-gath- 
erers. Let’s wave our flag to hurry ’em up! ” 

The old shawl was flourished so vigorously that it 
parted in the middle, half of it blowing away over the 
grass. 

“ Never mind! ” shouted Sandy, now in high spirits. 
“ It’ll do for the ‘ homeward pennant ’ ! Come on, 
Davel I believe they’ve seen us — yes, there’s a man 
standing up in the bows and swinging his hat. Hope 
he don’t fall overboard ! ” 

“ Slow, Sandy, slow, my festive brother,” cried 
Dave. “ I’m getting old and can’t run as I could once 
upon a time. Let me have your shoulder, will you?” 

“Both of ’em, if you like!” chuckled Sandy. “Carry 
you down to the wharf for a cent — or ten reis! Say, 
Dave, got any money? ” 


262 


ATAFV BLUE, 


Not a red.’^ 

“ No more have 1. Girlie and Senhora Isabella 
took it all. Never mind. We’ll privateer their craft 
and run away with it, if we once get aboard.” 

With Dave limping along and supporting himself 
by the oar and Sandy’s stout shoulder, the two made 
their way down the ravine, toward the mouth of which 
the sail-boats were evidently directing their course. 

“Good-by, bunnies!” cried Saunders, waving his 
free hand to a couple of rabbits who sat up on their 
haunches to watch these strange intruders. “ Those 
orchil fellows have done you a good turn! Too bad 
they didn’t get here earlier! ” 

At the cave the boys stopped a moment to rest 
and refresh themselves with a final draught of spring 
water. 

“ ’Twas a good refuge,” said Dave as he turned 
away and stretched out his hand for the other’s help. 

“ You’re right there. Farmer; but my hammock 
will seem soft to-night, just the same! ” 

They had not waited on the shore more than ten 
minutes when the first boat came in view around the 
headland. The man in the bows waved his hat wildly, 
and sent a hail over the water. 

“ He seems more delighted than surprised,” re- 
marked Sandy as he answered the Portugee’s shout. 
“ Do you suppose they guessed we were here, and 
came off for us?” 


THE RESCUE. 263 

‘‘ Oh, hardly. They’ve come for orchella weed, as 
I told you.” 

The real fact was that both surmises were partially 
correct; for the boatman, whom they could now see 
was old and grizzled, was no other than the owner 
of the shipwrecked boat. Having hid in a ruined 
hut all night, he had embarked at early dawn with a 
neighbor who was going out to the rocks for orchil. 
The trip would serve a double purpose — a retreat for 
himself until the excitement in Funchal should blow 
over, and a possibility of the recovery of his boat. If 
he could restore the missing cadets to their ship, he 
knew he and his wife would escape easily, or actually 
come out of the affair with glory, and, not improbably, 
cash. A lifetime’s experience of the winds and tides 
in that vicinity had enabled him to calculate pretty 
closely the drift of the boat, and he knew there was 
at least a chance that it had gone ashore somewhere 
on the Desertas. A pile of greenish fragments told 
him the fate of his own boat as soon as he sprang 
ashore. He shook his head sadly, then turned to the 
cadets. 

Of course he was unable to reveal his identity to 
them, even if he had desired to. He invited them 
eagerly aboard, and with a torrent of his native tongue 
induced his fellow-sailor to put the boat about and 
head for Funchal. 

No invitation yet for gents to step to the captain’s 


264 


JVAFV BLUE, 


office and settle/’ said Sandy gayly as the little boat 
bounded over the waves toward home. “ We’re dead- 
heads, Dave.” 

They had been sailing about half an hour, when 
Rexdale sprang upon his thwart, lame as he was, and 
gave a loud hurrah. 

Right over the bows rose a cloud of black smoke 
pierced by a slender mast. 

“The Monongahela! ” shouted Sandy, as excited as 
his companion. “ Hurrah ! Hurrah ! ” 

The big ship was soon within hail. She stopped 
her engines, and the sail-boat ran alongside. What a 
greeting the cadets had from their shipmates as they 
came over the rail! Cheer after cheer was given, 
without rebuke from the officers, while the lads sought 
the commander at once to make their report. 

The fishermen were bidden to follow the steamer, 
which headed back for Funchal, and for the third 
time found a resting-place near Loo Rock. 

The two rescued cadets were of course the heroes 
of the day. They told their story over and over again 
as they sat on the gun-deck, surrounded by eager 
groups of listeners. 

It should be added that Dave begged the executive 
officer to give the old Portuguese enough money to 
pay for his boat — with a small additional sum to the 
old lady for her shawl, a portion of which he keeps 
in his cabin to this day — and to deduct the amount 


THE RESCUE. 


265 


from his own and Saunders’ balance on the purser’s 
books. Hearing of this, Whittaker and Tickerson 
insisted on sharing the expense; so that, divided be- 
tween the four, the loss of each was comparatively 
small. 

Three days later the boatswain’s merry pipe of “ All 
hands up anchor for home! ” was heard, and under full 
spread of canvas the Monongahela once more turned 
her prow toward the setting sun. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


HOME AGAIN. 

The homeward voyage was not without variety. 
“ Hatteras did its best to make things interesting for 
us,” wrote a cadet, some weeks later, and succeeded 
wonderfully. Dead calms and nasty squalls; sand 
storms and deluges; blizzards, cyclones, and water- 
spouts — to the gloomy delight of Pessy — each took a 
turn. Then they came by permutations and combina- 
tions, mechanical mixtures, and chemical compounds, 
and finally the whole crowd lit on us in a bunch. The 
Monongahela did not seem to mind, however. She is 
a peculiarly unexcitable craft, and loses her headway 
much more easily than she loses her head.” 

Dim through the ocean mists two shadows at last 
appeared, one on the port bow, one to starboard. It 
was no foreign shore this time, but the welcome out- 
lines of the homeland. The men could not resist 
giving a cheer as they recognized Capes Charles and 
Henry, guarding the entrance to Chesapeake; and an 
hour later the ship v^as at anchor within signalling 
distance of the Bancroft in Lynhaven Bay, where the 
“ greasers ” had been waiting for several days to greet 
the linemen on their return from abroad. 


HOME AGAIN. 


267 


The reunion of classmates was a jolly one. Harry 
Saunders declared that Staples had begun to grow 
at last, and that Norman's face fairly shone with 
“ dichromatic fluorescence.” All the lads were brown 
as Indians, and full of eagerness to reach home in 
the long-anticipated September leave. 

Dave went at once to the old farm in Granite, 
Norman accompanying him nearly all the way, as 
Hallie and her mother were at Crawford’s, in the 
White Mountains. A few days after the boys’ arrival 
a note came to the Rexdale farm, inviting Miss Letitia, 
with the two young people, to spend a week with the 
Holmes at the big hotel. 

It was a lovely morning in early September when 
the train, panting from its efforts in climbing the 
notch, halted by the little Crawford station. Out 
came the Rexdales, Miss Letitia clinging nervously to 
her skirts with one hand and a large carpet-bag with 
the other. 

“ I declare,” she exclaimed, as Mrs. Holmes hurried 
to greet her and Anemone, who was close behind, “ I 
never thought I should get here alive, with the cars 
tippin’ an’ creakin’ up that hill. I am glad to see you. 
Mis’ Holmes. Where’s Annie? Land, the young- 
sters have got together already! ” and the good 
woman’s face beamed with relief and satisfaction as 
she dropped her skirts to grasp the cordial hand of her 
hostess. 


268 


NAVY BLUE. 


Come right up to the hotel/' said the latter. 
“ Here, John, take Miss Rexdale’s bag on the truck, 
and bring the trunk along.” 

There was no mistaking the last-mentioned article, 
a large, old-fashioned hair-cloth affair, marked “ L. 
R.” — a chef df oeuvre of Tompkins, who was jack of 
all trades, and prided himself on his lettering. 

Miss Letitia viewed with some apprehension the 
porter’s back as he marched off with her bulky port- 
manteau, but suffered herself to be conducted up the 
plank walk, in the stream of new arrivals and guests 
who had come down, bareheaded, to meet the train. 

It’s so good to have you here! ” exclaimed Hallie 
with an ecstatic squeeze of Anemone’s arm. “ We’ve 
planned all sorts of good times — a climb to Bugle 
Cliff, the trip up Mt. Washington, a tally-ho ride to 
the Twin, and oh, lots of things.” 

“Any fishing here?” Dave was inquiring of Nor- 
man. 

“ First rate. Not so very many fish, but any quan- 
tity of fishing. Go on, old fellow. What did you do 
when the sea began to break over the boat? ” 

So the questions and answers, the laughter and 
gay, happy talk followed fast and furious, the Granite 
party meanwhile being duly introduced to the land- 
lord, who stood at the door of his big inn welcoming 
the new arrivals with old-time hospitality. 

A volume could be written on the haps and mis- 


HOME AGAIN. 


269 


haps of that week — or, rather, the fortnight to which it 
was extended — in the mountains. One day alone 
must be taken as a sample of the rest. 

It was the third morning after the Rexdales’ arrival. 
There had been a light frost in the valley overnight, 
but now the sun had risen, and there was every prom- 
ise of a golden autumn day. The young people had 
planned an outing, which was to include even the 
older members of the party, Mrs. Holmes acquiescing 
cheerfully, and Miss Letitia declaring she wouldn’t 
be left behind. 

Behold them, then, setting out from the eastern 
piazza and entering the Idlewild grove. 

“ Here’s where the bridle path started,” announced 
Norman; “see the old signboard? And we are to 
follow it for some distance.” 

“ Land, we ain’t goin’ up Mt. Washington? ” in- 
quired Miss Letitia apprehensively. 

“ Not exactly! But we shall ascend — by very easy 
degrees, ma’am — one of its lower spurs.^’ 

The party soon were obliged to fall into single file, 
and, with Norman leading, began their climb over the 
well-worn, historic path. It was bordered on both 
sides by banks of vivid green moss, dotted with par- 
tridge-berries and embroidered with the trailing vines 
of Linnaea. Overhead were the thick boughs of fir 
and spruce, with here and there a moose-wood, droop- 
ing under the weight of its scarlet clusters. The air 


2/0 


JSrJFY BLUE. 


was filled with the ripple and rush of a little mountain 
torrent that came laughing down from the uplands 
and foamed merrily over the granite boulders or 
gathered itself in deep, amber pools close beside the 
path. 

“Have a drink of condensed clouds?’’ sung out 
Norman, unshipping his tin dipper, which he carried 
on his belt. “ It’s a little better than Desertas water, 
isn’t it, Dave? ” 

“ Beats it all out,” said the latter, taking a long, 
delicious draught. “ I hope you’ll give us something 
more savory than broiled rabbit and puffins by and 
by,” he added jocosely, with a rattle of the good-sized 
basket he carried. 

“You just wait! You and I’ve got to purvey for 
the crowd, Dave. There isn’t enough in these baskets 
to go round.” 

“ I’m with you! This brook looks as if ’twere full 
of trout.” 

“ Oh, look at the ferns! ” cried Hallie. “ Did you 
ever see anything so lovely? ” 

Dave didn’t answer the question, as he was tempted 
to do, but plunged down the steep bank and returned 
with a handful of graceful fronds, which Hallie gayly 
thrust into her belt. 

“ Is — is it much farther? ” inquired Mrs. Holmes, 
sinking down to rest on a bench. 

“ Oh no, mother. We’re over half-way.” 


HOME AGAIN. 


271 

“ Let’s not hurry,” added Anemone; it’s so beau- 
tiful everywhere ! ” 

The boys, however, were eager to get at their sport, 
and the party soon resumed their march. The path 
was now pretty steep, and they had to halt frequently 
for breath. 

When they had reached a point about half a mile 
from the hotel, Norman turned aside to the left. The 
voice of the brook now took a deeper tone, and 
the little party, clambering cautiously down this new 
side-track, emerged suddenly in a tiny glen or ravine, 
surrounded on all sides, except that affording outlet 
to the stream, by high walls of moss-covered granite 
and shadowed by tall evergreens. The brook came 
down in a foaming torrent over the cliffs at the upper 
end of this fairy glen, and spread out at their base in 
a clear, deep pool before hastening on its course to 
the valley. 

“Lovely! Exquisite! Enchanting!” No words 
were strong enough to express the delight of the girls 
and their elders as they pointed out the smooth gran- 
ite ledges, the mimic cataract, the ferns peeping over 
to catch sight of their pretty tresses in the pool, the 
hoary, moss-draped firs, dark against the blue sky, 
and the rare flame of a frost-touched leaf among the 
more sombre foliage of the evergreens. 

“ What is the name of it? ” asked Hallie. “ I know 
it must be something romantic ! ” 


272 


JVAFY BLUE. 


'' Gibbs’ Falls,” replied Norman succinctly. 

^‘O-O-h! Did you ever!” 

‘‘We ought to rechristen it,” suggested Anemone. 

“All right — what’s the matter with Hallie’s ” 

began Dave. 

“ No, no! ” cried Hallie, with a switch of her braid. 
“ Not for me — for Anemone! ” 

“ Let’s compromise, and call it ‘ Glen Anne,’ ” said 
Mrs. Holmes, who had taken her seat on a rude bench 
built against the trunk of a lofty spruce. “ That will 
suggest Annapolis, which was named for the queen, 
and it will make us think of our Annie, too.” 

“ Then it must be ‘ Hallie’s Falls,’ ” persisted Dave; 
and that time he had his way. 

“ Well,” said the young person so honored, “ I 
name the stream ‘ Rexdale Brook.’ ” 

“ And the expanse of water before us ‘ Mary’s 
Pool,’ ” said Norman, taking off his cap with a low 
bow to his mother, who laughed merrily, but was 
pleased, just the same. 

“ Now everybody is named for but Miss Rexdale,” 
exclaimed Norman. 

“ Land, don’t name anything for me,” began that 
lady abruptly; but the mischief in Dave’s eye was not 
to be checked. 

“The path which led us to this enchanting spot,” 
said he, “ shall hereafter be known as ‘ Letty’s 
Lane ’ ! ” 


JIOMjS again. 


273 


What a shout there was at this! It was of no use 
to protest, for at the first word the boys swung their 
caps and led in three uproarious cheers, before which 
Miss Letitia was fain to subside and accept her honors 
meekly. 

Annie alone noted the pink spot that lingered in 
her aunt’s faded chee”ks for several minutes, and 
guessed that the girlish name might have wakened 
memories of some day, long, long past, when she had 
been called “ Letty ” by a young farmer who, legend 
told, had gone to the war and never returned. If so, 
the memory left no further shadow on the dear old 
maiden lady’s enjoyment of this bright day than 
might be cast by the passing flicker of a bird’s wing 
between her and the sun. 

Now, girls,” said Norman, setting down his load 
and bidding Dave do the same, “ we’re going up- 
stream, fishing, and will be back in just an hour. I’m 
going to build a fire on the rocks there, and you must 
keep it going till we return, so’s to have a good bed 
of coals to cook over.” 

He suited action to the word as he spoke, and soon 
had a glorious fire blazing, and casting its ruddy re- 
flection over the pool. 

Good luck ! ” called the girls as their brothers 
disappeared up the steep banks of the brook. 

Now began a rivalry between the two cadets as to 
their piscatory prowess. Norman had a light rod, 

i8 


274 


JVAFV BLUE, 


which he rigged with reel and fly; and, knowing the 
brook well, he had a trout wriggling on the rocks be- 
fore the other had begun to fish. 

Dave proceeded at once to a clump of saplings and 
cut a pole about eight feet in length. This, with a 
couple of yards of common silk line, and an ordinary 
bait-hook and shot-sinker, completed his outfit. He 
had provided himself with worms at the hotel, and 
set to work to show his city chum how the boys 
caught trout in Granite. 

Creeping up ahead of Norman to a deep pool at 
the foot of a fall, he dropped his bait softly in the 
floating bubbles. Down went the tip of his pole, and 
presently out came a spotted beauty. 

“All right!” called the fly-fisher. “It’s my turn 
next, old fellow.” 

They had made an arrangement, which is a capital 
one where two are fishing the same small stream, that 
whenever one caught a trout the other could go 
ahead, thus dividing fairly the advantages of the first 
cast. 

For nearly three-quarters of an hour they followed 
the brook up in this way, and then turned down- 
stream. 

“There!” said Norman, throwing down a string 
of eleven fine trout as he entered “ Glen Anne ” 
again. 

“ And there! ” remarked Dave, adding nine beauties 


HOME AGAIN. 


275 

to the heap. “ Norman’s are more numerous, but 
smaller, so we’ll call it square! 

The girls had not been idle during the absence of 
the fishermen. They had spread a cloth over the 
bench, and upon it the lunch brought from the hotel, 
decorating it with ferns and bright leaves. 

Dave volunteered to clean the fish, which was soon 
done. Then Norman produced a miniature frying- 
pan, fitted a moose-wood handle into the socket, and 
would have proceeded to fry the trout had not Miss 
Letitia indignantly driven him away and assumed the 
task. 

“ I guess I haven’t lived on a farm all my life and 
taken care o’ the family to have a boy do my cookin’,” 
she remarked with energy; even if he has got regi- 
mentals on 1 ” 

The little fish were thereupon rolled in meal, and 
soon were sputtering in the pan in the most appetizing 
manner. The lunch was voted a success, and Dave 
declared that Desertas puffins a la Sandy couldn’t 
touch Aunt Letitia’s Crawford trout. 

So this day and other days passed merrily and 
swiftly by until playtime was over, and the party 
separated once more: Mrs. Holmes and Hallie return- 
ing to the city; Anemone and her aunt to Granite, 
which the former was soon to leave for Salem; and the 
cadets taking the night express to Washington and 
Annapolis. 


CHAPTER XXX. 


THIRD-CLASS YEAR. 

‘‘Dave,” said Norman, “ how much do you weigh?” 
The two third-class men were in their room, study- 
ing hard, one evening in October. 

“ Oh, about a hundred and forty-five,” said the 
other, without looking up from his work. “ What 
do you want to know for? ” 

“ Would you mind climbing the flag-pole and ” 

“ What nonsense are you up to now? ” 

“Why, look here! Here’s the ‘ admiral’s ’ latest 
in the problems he gave me to solve: ‘How long 
would a hundred-and-fifty-pound man be in falling 
from the top of a flag-staff one hundred and twenty 
feet high, if he holds in his hand one end of a rope 
passed through a block at the top and just long enough 
to reach the ground, where it is fastened to a sixty- 
pound ball?’ I thought the easiest way would be to 
try the experiment.” 

Dave laughed. “ I suppose you want Girlie on the 
other end of the rope,” said he. “ He’s near enough 
to a sixty-pound ball.” 


THIRD-CLASS YEAR, 


277 


The studies for the second year at the academy, 
it should be noted, included descriptive geometry, 
trigonometry, English, the United States Constitu- 
tion, mechanical drawing, physics, chemistry, and 
analytical geometry. The cadets found plenty of 
hard work awaiting them on their return from leave; 
and they had no summer cruise to look forward to 
this year, as they knew that the second class would 
probably spend the summer months at Annapolis. 

“ I’m afraid there’s trouble brewing for some of the 
plebes,” mused Norman. 

The officer of the day put his head in at the door, 
and satisfying himself that the cadets were at their 
books, nodded and withdrew. 

“What makes you think so?” inquired Rexdale 
as soon as the door closed and the youngsters had 
resumed their seats. 

“ I heard two or three of the fellows talking about 
a running job.” 

“ It’s mean business,” said Dave with a yawn, re- 
turning to his trigonometric tables. “ And the very 
fellows who wanted to get up an ' anti-running ’ asso- 
ciation last year are the ringleaders, now they’re 
youngsters themselves.” 

“ Yes. ’Twas Billings and Ted Sampson and some 
other men that used to chum with Pete Rollins.” 

There was silence in the room for some time as the 
two cadets worked at their problems. They had 


278 


ATAFY BLUE. 


hardly completed their task when the welcome notes 
of the bugle were heard, announcing recreation. 

“ Now look out for breakers! ” said Norman, replac- 
ing his books on his shelf and stretching himself. I 
want to finish that letter to Annie, Dave. In ten 
minutes 1^11 go out with you.’^ 

Dave had a refractory cap-button to sew on, and 
was quietly working away, to the sound of his friend’s 
busy pen, when a slight scuffle was heard in the corri- 
dor, and the door of an adjoining room was hurriedly 
opened and shut. This was repeated several times 
before Norman had folded and stamped his letter. 

“ Come on,” he said. “ Let’s get the air. I’ve 
boned till my back’s stiff.” 

They tossed on their caps and sauntered out into 
the corridor, which was temporarily deserted. 

“ Hold on,” said Dave, checking the other by the 
arm. “ What’s going on in 73? ” 

A low moaning reached their ears, followed by a 
sound of suppressed laughter. 

“ They’ve got some plebes in there,” said Norman, 
after listening a minute. “ Let’s go in. We may be 
able to make things a little easier for the poor fellows.” 

‘‘ But it’ll be bad business if we’re caught in there,” 
urged Dave. “ Nobody’d believe we weren’t in the 
running crowd.” 

“That’s so! Perhaps ” He was interrupted 

by a muffled cry behind the door. 


THIRD-CLASS YEAR. 


279 


Hesitating no longer, the two cadets walked in 
without the formality of a knock. Their entrance oc- 
casioned a sudden fright, for the gas was instantly 
turned down, though not before the intruders were 
recognized, and they, on their part, had caught sight 
of Billings and several of his cronies. 

“ What are you fellows doing? demanded Norman 
sharply. 

“None of your business. Get out of here!” 
growled Billings. 

Dave slipped over to the gas and suddenly turned 
it up brightly. The scene disclosed was a striking 
one. In the centre of the group was a young cadet, 
held upside down by two men, who had evidently 
been arrested in the act of pouring water down his 
trousers legs, from the pitcher. 

The unfortunate victim’s face was purple, and he 
was gasping from the last flood of water, which had 
of course drenched him and poured all over his face. 

“ Let him up! ” said Norman, taking in the situa- 
tion. “ He’s had enough for one dose, anyway.” 

“ Look here, Lat. Holmes, we don’t take orders 
from you, d’ye understand?” said the big third-class 
man savagely. “ That kid’ll stand on his head just as 
long as we want him to; we haven’t begun with him 
yet. And if you interfere you’ll be treated the same 
way yourself! ” 

Norman’s blood leaped to his face. Without more 


28 o 


NAVY BLUE. 


words, he sprang upon the nearer of the plebe’s most 
active tormentors, and seizing him by the collar, flung 
him back against the wall. 

The poor plebe came to the floor with a crash as 
Billings, uttering an oath, sprung upon his daring 
classmate. Dave here took a hand in the affray, but 
the two rescuers were outnumbered and might have 
fared badly had not the door then suddenly opened, 
disclosing the upright figure and stern face of the 
officer in charge, a navy lieutenant of about forty years. 

As he stood in silence a moment, the struggling 
cadets separated, and the “ runners ” sullenly and 
sheepishly saluted, one or two of them glancing long- 
ingly at the door. The plebe who had been ill-treated 
gained his feet, and lurching dizzily, tried to stand 
erect, at attention. 

You can sit down,’’ said the officer gently. Then, 
in tones that left the real culprits little hope, he turned 
to them and said, “ You will stand till your names 
are taken, and then report on the Santee.” 

Norman and Dave said nothing; but the rescued 
lad, whom they had not before recognized, but who 
they now saw was no other than Dobson, sprang to 
his feet and, forgetting naval discipline, laid his hand 
on the officer’s arm. 

“ Please, sir,” he said eagerly, pointing to those 
who had taken his part, “ these two ” 

“Silence!” commanded the lieutenant sternly. 


THIRD-CLASS YEAR. 


281 


‘‘ Any excuses that can be made will be considered at 
the proper time. Young gentlemen/' he added with 
energy as he pocketed his notes, “ you are a disgrace 
to the academy and the navy. I hope it is true (look- 
ing at Dave and Norman) that you were not all con- 
cerned in this shameful business. I can assure you 
that the case will be promptly dealt with. March ! " 

Dobson managed to squeeze Norman's hand as the 
prisoners filed past him, but nothing could then be 
said. It was not pleasant to spend the night “ in de- 
tention " on the old Santee, nor to imagine the looks 
of their classmates when they failed to report at forma- 
tion and their names were read for grave misdemeanor 
next morning; but the two friends were satisfied with 
their work, and felt sure of exoneration when an inves- 
tigation should be made. 

Promptly they sent in their excuses, taking care to 
accuse no one else; and after a hearing before the 
commandant their names were taken from the mis- 
conduct roll, Dobsor's evidence being convincing. 
Billings and one of his associates disappeared from 
the academy the next day, dismissed and disgraced. 
Next to deliberate falsehood no offence meets with 
more summary or complete punishment at Annapolis 
than hazing. 

It is needless to add that Dobson's attachment to 
Holmes and Rexdale was absolute from that time 
forward; though it was not until years afterward, on 


282 


JVAFV BLUE. 


the deck of a United States cruiser, that he was able 
to repay the debt. But that is another story, and 
must wait. 

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day 
passed in rapid succession. The class, now still 
further diminished in numbers, began to assume more 
and more the aspect and bearing of naval officers. 
The weakest elements had been eliminated, as we have 
seen, and although those who remained were still but 
a company of young men such as may be found in 
any university, these tried and true survivors of ex- 
aminations, cruises, plebe scraps, and severe discipline 
were of necessity an exceptionally healthy, clear- 
headed, and clear-minded set of fellows. 

Norman’s full-length picture — in “ regimentals,” as 
Miss Letitia called them — taken at this period of his 
course, shows a young gentleman of a little above 
medium height, erect figure, keen dark eyes, a rather 
sensitive but firm mouth, and a dignified, manly bear- 
ing. Dave is taller and has broader shoulders; his 
eyes are deep-set and earnest, indicating a settled 
strength of purpose that is lacking, for instance, in 
Sandy’s good-natured, honest face. Of course these 
pictures were sent to Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire, and, adorned with knots of navy-blue ribbon, 
duly took their places on the bureaus — one of mahog- 
any and the other stained pine — of their respective 


owners. 


THIRD-CLASS YEAR. 


283 


Early in March Girlie Tickerson contracted a heavy 
cold, which steadily grew worse instead of better. At 
last he was obliged to report to the senior medical 
officer, at the morning sick call, and, after a brief 
examination, was ordered to sick quarters. The cold 
developed into bronchitis and threatened pneumonia. 
Girlie’s bright young face was sadly missed by his 
classmates in the formations, at his mess-table, and 
in recreation. 

Norman applied for and obtained special leave to 
visit his friend frequently, and in the course of those 
visits learned to know the chaplain even better than 
before. That kind-hearted gentleman, who was popu- 
larly but not ill-naturedly referred to as “ Holy Joe,” 
was a daily caller at Girlie’s bedside, and not only 
spoke to him of the graver questions of life, but often 
helped him with cheery talk, anecdotes of naval life, 
and reports of the outside world. “ Manliness, 
strength of purpose, purity, and fidelity ” — these were 
the watchwords of the chaplain’s life, the tenor of his 
sermons, the dominant sentiments with which he never 
wearied of endeavoring to inspire the cadets. Poor 
fellows they would have been indeed had they not 
felt the inspiration of his example and words and been 
drawn to better things. 

I tell you. Norm,” said Girlie in one of his days 
of convalescence, “ it puts a new look on things to 
hear him talk. I used to think ministers were an 


284 


JVAVy BLUE. 


insipid lot, but the chaplain’s a man, all through, and I 
want to be like him.” 

“ Has he been saying — talking — religion to you? ” 
asked Holmes. 

A little,” admitted Tickerson, flushing; for boys 
are even shyer in speaking of these things than of 
their sweethearts; “ but he didn’t throw it at my head, 
or jump on me because I was down and couldn’t help 
myself. He read that chapter about the big haul of 
fish, and then talked along, till I— say. Norm! ” 

“ Well, old fellow? ” 

“ I guess I’ll join our Y. M. C. A. Don’t you want 
to?” 

I think Girlie remembered the fishing chapter, and 
had begun his work right off. 

“ Yes, I do,” said Norman heartily. “ I’ve thought 
about it, and meant to join, but — well, you know how 
it is! The fellows might think you were setting up for 
a saint, or something of the sort! ” 

“ Every fellow that joins the academy doesn’t set 
up for an admiral! ” 

“ That’s so! Mother’d like to have me join, I know; 

and I can answer for Dave. I’ve seen him ” He 

checked himself, feeling that he had no right to pub- 
lish his chum’s private acts of devotion. “ Anyway, 
we’re with you. Girlie, every time. As soon’s you’re 
out of the dry dock and afloat again, we’ll hand in our 


names. 


THIRD-CLASS YEAR. 


285 


The subject may be dismissed with the remark that, 
upon inquiry, Norman found that over ten per cent, 
of the cadets were on the lists of the Christian Asso- 
ciation; a discovery which surprised him, so retiring 
and unobtrusive had been the membership. Three 
weeks later half a dozen new names appeared on the 
rolls, including those of the cadets with whom we are 
best acquainted. 

Girlie’s robust constitution conquered his illness, 
as has been intimated, and he was soon among the 
most active with the foil and oar and at the guns. 

Once more spring ripened into summer. The girls 
did not come to Annapolis for June week this year; 
Miss Lee and her friend Susie had returned to their 
respective homes, whither frequent letters found their 
way; Tickerson directing his to Charleston, and fickle 
Sandy — who, however, seemed to have made up his 
mind at last! — to Baltimore. Hallie was now begin- 
ning to consider the grave question of doing up her 
hair, and Anemone was hard at work at Salem, with 
one year more at the State Normal to complete her 
course. 

Having followed one practice cruise throughout, 
we must stand upon the wharf this time with those 
left behind — including our young heroes, now of the 
second class. 


CHAPTER XXXL 


A QUEER CHRISTMAS PARTY. 

The summer seemed long to the second-class men, 
who were left behind; yet with hard work in laboratory 
and machine shop, with intervals of open-air exercise 
and long walks in the pleasant country about Annapo- 
lis, the thirty-first of August arrived on time, as usual, 
and the annual breaking up on leave took place. Nor- 
man was once more at the mountains with his family, 
while Dave put in a month of solid labor at the farm, 
alternately depressing Tompkins with his energy and 
delighting him with his naval terms and bearing. 

Back trooped the three hundred to Maryland when 
term-time began; and routine and discipline ruled as 
of old. Dave and Norman were now second-class 
petty officers, and each sported on his right arm a 
bright golden eagle, spreading its wings over the time- 
honored naval emblem, the anchor. On “ service 
dress ” their rank was indicated by a single figure-of- 
eight knot of black cord. 

At this time the officer in charge, stationed at the 
academy as aid to the commandant of cadets, was 
known as Dannie.” He was a thorough gentleman 


A QUEER CHRISTMAS TAR TV. 


287 


and a thorough officer, one who had the rare faculty 
of maintaining excellent discipline, together with an 
unvarying regard for the feelings of others. During 
Norman Holmes’ second-class year occurred an inci- 
dent that has already been so well described by one 
of the actors concerned in it that I shall use his 
own words as far as possible in giving a description 
of it.* 

“ Some of the boys of the third class of cadets, who 
went to the laboratory every Friday evening for in- 
struction on experiments in chemistry, took such an 
interest in the study that they must needs have a 
private laboratory of their own, which they located in 
the room of a certain very correct cadet named M., 
who lived on the third floor of the New Quarters. I 
lived on the floor above, and others who were in the 
affair were scattered all about the building. 

All the material we used was obtained, very im- 
properly, from the real laboratory, each one making a 
point of bringing over something — a mortar and 
pestle, or a retort, or something of that sort — after 
each Friday night’s exercise. These things were all 
stowed away in M.’s wardrobe drawers, neatly covered 

* For the account of these occurrences in the days of the gallant 
and lamented lieutenant, I am indebted to Mr. Edward E. Clements, 
who has recently told the story in print to the readers of the Youth's 
Companion, and to whose article Mrs. Danenhower kindly called my 
attention. 


288 


NAVY BLUE. 


from inspection by a layer of folded garments, and in 
time we had quite a respectable set of apparatus. 

“ One night after supper and after first inspection 
chlorine was being produced in M.’s room at a rate 
that promised speedily to stifle every one in the build- 
ing. Several of us were watching the process, though 
this was ‘ study hours,’ during which time all visiting 
is strictly forbidden. But Dannie was on duty as 
officer in charge, and none of us anticipated an 
invasion. 

“ Other cadets stole in every little while, until ten 
of us sat around in the limited space, watching with 
delight the evolution of the heavy green vapor, until 
we were suddenly alarmed by the sound of deliberate 
footsteps in the corridor outside. 

“We listened breathlessly. Yes, it was Dannie 
without a doubt, and coming in our direction. He 
might pass — but no! We had, unfortunately, left the 
transom of the door open, and he could not fail to re- 
mark the horrid smell that issued forth. 

“ There was no escape, and to conceal anything on 
our persons was worse than hopeless, for our scant 
clothing barely sufficed to conceal ourselves. -Each 
fellow looked at his neighbor in disgust. It probably 
meant losing a conduct grade for every one of us. 
For mere ‘ visiting ’ we should not be much penalized, 
but with those tell-tale chemicals in our possession we 
could not hope to get off lightly. 


A QUEER CHRISTMAS PARTY. 


289 


“Two of the boys, with rare presence of mind, seized 
some of the larger articles on the table, and disap- 
peared with them beneath the two beds. Two more 
dodged behind the open wardrobe doors, and the rest 
of us stood grimly to face the music. The footsteps 
stopped, and we heard a sharp rap at the door. 

“'Come in!^ said M., while we all braced up to 
attention. 

“ The door opened, and there stood Danenhower. 

“ ' Good evening, gentlemen,’ he said, while his eyes 
began to twinkle as he took in the situation. 

“ We were a sorry-looking set of gentlemen, truly, 
but we piped up in a minute, in dismal chorus, ' Good 
evening, sir.’ 

“ He came in and shut the door, and drawing up 
one of the two chairs, with which each room was 
furnished, sat down. 

“ ' What have we here, Mr. M.? ’ he inquired, sneez- 
ing after a glance at our apparatus. 

“ ' Only chlorine, sir,’ replied M., meekly. 

“ ‘ H’m, only!’ His eyes rested contemplatively 
on a shoe under the foot of the opposite bed. ' Gentle- 
men, pray be seated,’ he continued, after a pause. ' Mr. 
M., can you oblige me with a pencil and paper? ’ 

“ M. produced the articles with alacrity, and we 
seated ourselves cautiously on the beds. 

“ In a moment, probably to find out whether or not 
we were really in earnest, Danenhower was asking us 
19 


290 


JVAFV BLUE. 


all sorts of questions about our experiments, and be- 
fore he finished we had made quite an impromptu 
recitation. 

“ Danenhower finally said, ' Well, gentlemen, from 
what you say, I can readily see that this is not mere 
mischief, but really misguided and thoughtless enthu- 
siasm; therefore I am not disposed to be harsh. But 
the regulations require that I should report you all 
for visiting, and, in order that I may get all the names, 
the gentlemen under the beds and behind the doors 
had better come out.’ 

They came out. He took our names, and de- 
spatched two of us for a servant and a barrel. So our 
beloved laboratory was no more. 

“ So much for Dannie’s mildness. On another oc- 
casion he was stern enough. 

“ It was Christmas day, and an order had been pub- 
lished at morning roll-call to the effect that no noise 
of any kind would be tolerated in the quarters during 
the day. Thereupon a certain element in the fourth 
division — which occupied the top floor of the building, 
and was therefore farthest removed from the super- 
vision of the officer in charge — immediately began 
to consider what kind of noise was the noisiest, and 
how it was to be produced. 

The result was that at noon a large consignment 
of tin horns was smuggled in, and every fellow pro*^ 
vided with one. A sentinel was placed at the stair- 


A QUEER CHRISTMAS TARTY. 


291 


well to signal the approach of any disturber, and then 
the din began. Little care had been taken to get 
horns of the same pitch, and the general effect was 
such as to delight the most enthusiastic lover of 
discord. 

“ Quite a time elapsed, and as no notice was taken 
below stairs, the fellows had begun to tire of the sport, 
when suddenly a different sort of horn rang out. It 
was the bugle, playing ' Assembly,’ which was used 
at that time for a fire-call. 

Discipline immediately resumed her sway. Every 
tin horn was consigned to the first convenient hiding- 
place — a number were thrust into the water-cooler — 
and the blowers rushed pell-mell down the broad stairs 
to get to their fire stations. But at the foot of the 
stairs, in the lower corridor, they were met by the 
command, as sharp as it was unexpected, to ‘ fall in,’ 
and in a trice the battalion was formed, came to atten- 
tion, dressed up, ‘ eyes front,’ and stood awaiting the 
next order. 

“ Dannie, with his two aids, the cadet officers of the 
day, one of whom had formed the battalion in the 
absence of the cadet lieutenant-commander, walked 
slowly down the line till he reached its middle, when 
he stopped. 

“ ' Gentlemen,’ he began in a stern tone, while you 
could have heard a pin drop, ' there has been a delib- 
erate violation of the commandant’s order published 


292 


NAVY BLUE. 


this morning. The guilty ones now have a chance to 
save themselves and others inconvenience, by stepping 
to the front.’ 

Not one stirred. 

“ ‘ Very well. I will give you thirty minutes in 
which to consider the matter. The battalion will con- 
tinue at attention, and at the expiration of that time, 
if no one is willing to step out and take the onus of the 
offence, you will continue to stand at attention until a 
complete search of all rooms has been made.’ 

“ Suppressed groans from innocent ones .followed 
this speech as Dannie solemnly left-faced, and 
marched back to his office. 

“ Oh, how the time dragged! The fellows near the 
big clock arranged to cough every five minutes, and 
before the sixth cough came I thought we should all 
drop. Finally out came Danenhower, marching with 
precision to his former position. 

“ ^ Has any one concluded to step out and take the 
onus of this affair? ’ 

“ No one moved. 

‘ Very well,’ in a decided tone. ^ Officer of the 
day, call the master-at-arms, take the orderly with 
you, and make a thorough search of every room — 
cadet officers’ rooms only excepted.’ 

They went and we stayed! The search might take 
all the afternoon, for there were about a hundred 
rooms to be examined. 


A QUEER CHRISTMAS TARTY. 


293 


“ The minutes lingered. It might not have been 
so bad if we had stood in the open air, for then there 
would have been passing incidents to break the 
monotony; but as it was, we were drawn up in a corri- 
dor, half-dark, except at the ends, with a dull wall 
and closed doors to stare us in the face. 

“ At the end of the first half-hour Dannie made his 
appearance and commanded, ‘ Backward, guide left; 
march ! Halt ! Right forward dress ! ’ thus giving us 
a little movement. 

'' Soon after this there was a heavy plump at one end 
of the line. One of the younger cadets had fainted. 
He was taken out into the air, and in a few moments 
recovered. On his assurance that he had no knowl- 
edge of the disturbance he was allowed to remain 
outside. 

If you doubt the severity of this punishment just 
try standing motionless before a wall in the position 
of a soldier, and see how long you can endure it. Then 
remember that our case was aggravated by our not 
being permitted to move if we wanted to. 

“ As the time passed several more fainted, or feinted, 
which is just the same for the effect, and were re- 
moved, and still we stood. 

It was nearly four o’clock when the officer of the 
day came downstairs and reported his task done. A 
few minutes later several servants came down laden 
with the spoil. 


294 


JVAFY BLUE, 


“ Startling revelations had taken place. The most 
exemplary cadets must have given way to temptation, 
for almost every room yielded something, and as the 
lieutenant stood watching the increasing pile of ‘ con- 
traband,^ his face wore a grim smile. 

“ There were several small rifles, a shotgun or two — 
for duck, probably; eatables of all kinds, civilians’ 
clothing, tin horns — almost everything, in fact, that 
the regulations did not allow. 

“ When the pile was completed the lieutenant 
marched to his place. ‘ Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘ I was 
sorry to be obliged to punish innocent with guilty, but 
in view of the discovery of the articles before me I am 
not sorry at all. When you break ranks you may 
claim your property if you so desire. Otherwise it 
will be placed in the care of the master-at-arms.’ Then, 
turning to the officer of the day, ' Dismiss the com- 
panies!’ Welcome order! Need it be said that 
none of the property was claimed? Not then, at all 
events. 

That night there was a gathering of the clans in 
the fourth division, and shortly before taps — at ten 
o’clock — a huge something some six or eight feet 
high, made of paper on a rigid frame in the shape of 
a candle-extinguisher, was lowered from an upper 
floor until it rested near the door of the office. On 
its side in large black letters was the word ^ ONUS.’ 

'' Dannie only laughed, and kept it for some time 


A QUEER CHRISTMAS PARTY, 


295 

as a curiosity, for after that day few madcap pranks 
were played when he was on duty.” 

For the third time the annuals now loomed up 
before the second-class men; an all-important occa- 
sion, as it was to usher them into the golden realm 
of the first class, with its many liberties,” its honors 
of gold lace, its dignities and privileges — and its work, 
the hardest and yet the easiest of the whole course. 

At this late date two members of the class “ bilged ” 
before the test, and the academy precincts knew them 
no more. Three or four, including Staples, had by 
this time made up their minds to resign from the 
navy and seek their fortunes in civilian garments, 
after graduation. One man was to enter the senior 
class at Harvard, to which academy graduates are 
admitted without demur. 

Norman and Dave never wavered in their determi- 
nation to wear the “ navy blue ’’ throughout their lives. 
They kept steadily onward, every day bringing them 
nearer the goal — active service afloat. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


BAD NEWS. 

In the matter of practical instruction the distinction 
was now sharply drawn between cadets of the engineer 
corps and those who had chosen the line. The former 
were exercised largely in steam engineering; their 
“ shop work ’’ comprising — in the pattern shop : Se- 
lection and treatment of different woods for different 
purposes; elementary work of the carpenter shop, 
through mortising, joining, etc., to finished pattern 
work. 

In the foundry: Iron and brass casting, the making 
of bronzes and alloys. 

In the blacksmith shop: Forging, welding, temper- 
ing, case hardening, bending and quenching tests of 
metals. 

In the boiler shop: Rivetting, soft and hard patch- 
ing, calking, annealing, tube expanding and testing. 

In the machine shop: Vise bench work, machine 
tool work, turning, planing, boring, slotting, etc.; 
pipe fitting; building, erection, and aligning of engines 
and engine fitting; preparation of working drawings 
and working from the same. 


BAD NEWS. 


297 


They were also exercised in “ship work” — the man- 
agement of engines, getting up steam in emergencies, 
expedients in battle, temporary repairs, quick methods 
of disabling machinery about to fall into the hands of 
the enemy. 

Norman delighted in all this, and, as Sandy re- 
marked, took to machine oil as a duck does to water. 
It meant hard work, but he was ready for it, and 
was never happier than when surrounded by rivets 
and bolts, or when seeing for himself the practical 
applications of the principles which had seemed so 
dry and lifeless on the pages of his Stromeyer and 
Unwin. 

Dave, on the other hand, enjoyed nothing better 
than ship drill and naval tactics. The blue covers of 
his “ Luce’s Seamanship ” were almost worn off before 
the first term was over; and even “ hydrographic sur- 
veying ” had its charms when applied to tidal observa- 
tions and navigation. 

Norman’s rank in the class had entitled him to the 
office of cadet lieutenant, and he was now in command 
of the first division, or company, in the battalion. 
Dave had done his best, but his chum’s superior 
school-training had told in the results of the third 
year’s work, and the New Hampshire boy had to be 
content with a cadet junior lieutenancy in Norman’s 
company. Girlie Tickerson held the same position in 
the third company, while Sandy could gain no higher 


298 


NAVY BLUE. 


rank than cadet petty officer, with which position he 
expressed himself, however, as highly gratified. 

“ I shook in my boots all last year,” said he con- 
fidentially, “ for fear I should hit cadet lieutenant- 
commander; and, fellows, I shuddered al the thought 
of the responsibility! ” 

The high pffice referred to in reality fell to the lot 
of Staples, who had worked just as hard as if he 
intended to remain in the navy. The choice was a 
popular one, for no one was better liked than Tele- 
graph,” and his tall, commanding figure loomed up 
grandly at the head of the battalion. Dumb Whit- 
taker was cadet lieutenant and adjutant; his brother. 
Bell, being cadet assistant engineer. 

Early in the term Norman and Dave put their heads 
together and determined that their company should 
win the colors at the prize drill in June, which would 
be witnessed by two pairs of bright eyes before which 
the young men particularly desired to make a good 
showing. “ Company drill ” not coming often enough 
to suit the cadet lieutenant, in the regular practical 
exercises, he got the men under his command to vol- 
unteer occasionally for a short drill out of hours, and 
they soon showed the effect of the extra work. 

The days now flew on wings. Letters from home 
told of the preparations and plans that were being 
made for a visit to Annapolis in June week. 

In march came a stunning blow. Dave found his 



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BAD NEWS, 


299 


chum sitting alone in the little room they now occu- 
pied on the second floor of upper quarters, an open 
letter in his hand, his face pale and set. 

What is it. Norm? ” exclaimed Rexdale anxiously. 
“ Not bad news from home, I hope? ” 

Norman tossed over the letter for answer, and Dave 
read as follows: 

“ St. Botolph, March 5, i8g-. 

“ Dear Norman : 

“ I hardly know how to write what I must let you know. It is 
bad news, though not the worst that might be, by any means — not 
death or serious illness. You know how mother has always left the 
management of our estate to Mr. Harrows. She never inquired for 
details, but just signed whatever papers he asked her to, and trusted 
everything to him, as father advised, in his will. She did not even 
have to endorse checks, for you remember she gave him a — power 
of attorney, is it ? — to do that, years ago. Well, it seems that Mr. 
Harrows has sold nearly all our bonds and railroad stock, and 
invested the money in a gold mine somewhere in Idaho. He didn’t 
mean to be dishonest, but he had what he thought was a great 
chance to make a lot of money for himself and for us, if he could 
get more than half the shares in this mine. So he put all his own 
money in, and most of ours, and the mine has turned out worthless ! 
Mr. Harrows himself came here last night, looking like a ghost, and 
told us what he had done. Mother had one of her old fainting spells 
as soon as he was gone, and I am keeping her quiet in bed to-day. 

“ Of course, I have written to Uncle Richard. He will help us 
all he can, I know, but it looks pretty dark ahead. I can’t bear to 
say it, Norman dear, but I am not even sure you can keep on at the 
academy.” 


Oh, Norm!’’ exclaimed Dave, looking up from 


300 


NAVY BLUE. 


the letter, “you mustn't give up your naval career! 
Something can be done, I know! ” 

“ Read on, old fellow. I can’t think straight, just 
yet.” 

“ One thing seems certain — we can’t go on living here. We must 
sell the house and take a flat somewhere for the present ; and then 
we must consider, you and I, how to earn money enough to keep 
dear little mother comfortable. There’s only one thing I can do 
well, and that’s my music. You know I’ve been taking lessons on 
the violin, and practising two or three hours a day. If I can get 
pupils I can give easy lessons on the piano and violin, and perhaps 
get a chance to accompany, in concerts, once in a while. They say 
I have a pretty good contralto voice, too — you remember how our 
‘ quartette ’ sang at Crawford’s, two years ago, when Annie took the 
soprano and you and Mr. Rexdale the male parts ? ” 

“ ‘ Mr. Rexdale! ’ ” growled Dave, with something 
sticking in his throat. “ What does she mean by that? 

She always calls me Dave. . Brave little girl ! ” 

He swallowed, and went on. 

“ So that may help, too. Day after to-morrow I shall get an 
answer from Uncle Richard, I know. Do write by return mail. I 
don’t want to break in on your studies, and I doubt if you could get 
permission to come home, anyway, as I believe you said once that 
‘ death in the family ’ was the only ground for leave of absence in 
term-time. But I do feel very sad and perplexed and lonely, and I 
wish we were together in this emergency.” 

Here Hallie had begun a sentence with “ Give,” and 
scratched it out. 


BAD NEWS. 


301 


“ Remember me to Mr. Rexdale. Even if you have to give up 
your plans for the navy, I trust we shall see him sometimes, and I 
shall always think of him and wish him success in the noble calling 
he has chosen. 

“ Oh, write, dear, as soon as you can, to 

“ Your loving sister, 

“ Hallie.” 

There was silence for some minutes in the little 
room after Dave had finished reading the letter and 
mechanically put it back in the envelope, smoothing 
out the postage-stamp, which had been put on upside 
down and was partly torn off. 

“ I suppose I may as well see the superintendent 
and have it over with,” said Norman dully, at length. 

What for? ” 

I’ll show him the letter and tell him I must resign.’^ 

Resign!” 

“ Mother must be taken care of. I can’t let Hallie 
work while I’m idle.” 

‘‘Idle! Aren’t you working like a dog for your 
rank? Norm, don’t do anything rash. Your pay will 
provide for your own expenses. It’s only three 
months to the end of the term, and then comes 
service.” 

“ It’s two years before graduation, and meanwhile 
I can’t lift a finger to help mother and Hallie. Oh, 
Dave, what shall I do? What shall I do? ” 

Norman dropped his head on his arms, and his whole 


302 


JVAFV BLUE. 


form shook with the sobs he could no longer hold 
back. 

Norm,” said his chum, his own lips trembling as 
he laid his hand affectionately on the other’s shoulder, 
‘‘ think what ffwould be if you had news of great sick- 
ness, or — or death, from home! After all, it’s just 
money trouble, and there’ll be some way out.” 

Norman could not answer. 

“ In a few years,” continued Dave, flushing, al- 
though his friend could not see his face, “ I shall be 
— things will be — different! You and I are always 
going to stand shoulder to shoulder, old fellow. All I 
have is yours and — and — your mother’s and Miss 
Hallie’s!” 

Norman reached out blindly and grasped Dave’s 
sturdy hand in his own. 

'' Wait till you hear from your uncle, at any rate. 
If you want to talk the matter over with anybody, 

go to Chaplain C . He’ll give you good advice, 

I know, and you can do what seems best, later on. 
Don’t do anything in a hurry that you may be sorry 
for all your life afterward! Just heave to in the fog, 
or creep on slowly at half-speed; you’ll get sights 
before long, and then you can reckon up your where- 
abouts and lay your course! ” 

Norman was at last persuaded to follow his friend’s 
advice, though he went farther, and, calling on the 
superintendent, laid the whole matter before him, as 


BJD NEWS. 


303 


well as the chaplain. Both gentlemen extended their 
heartiest sympathy and encouragement to the cadet, 
whose sterling qualities they appreciated. They 
counselled him to postpone decision at least until after 
the annual examinations, reminding him of his duties 
to the academy and, in particular, to his company, 
which could hardly fail to suffer from a change of com- 
mander. These considerations had great weight with 
Norman, and a letter from Mr. Wheatley, forwarded 
by Hallie, settled the matter for the present. His 
uncle, after due condolences for their misfortunes, put 
a bright face upon the matter. He would be in St. 
Botolph himself, he wrote, within a week or two, and 
would give their affairs his personal supervision during 
his visit. Meanwhile their course of life need not be 
changed, farther than by the abandonment of plans 
for any expensive summer trip. Mrs. Holmes and her 
daughter were living very quietly, and their estate 
had no outstanding debts beyond the small monthly 
bills of the household, to meet which, for the present, 
there were fortunately sufficient funds in the savings 
bank, untouched by the agent who had been so un- 
faithful to his greater trusts. 

Norman, said Uncle Richard, must remain at An- 
napolis, at any rate, until the financial tangle should 
be cleared up, and definite plans could be made for 
the future. It would be folly for him to leave just 
before the completion of his fourth year at the acad- 


304 


JVAVV BLUE, 


emy, and so throw away the advantages he had gained 
thus far for earning a competence as a regularly 
graduated engineer. 

Two days after the Chicago letter came one from 
Granite, N. H., a thick, registered envelope, addressed 
to Mrs. Holmes. It ran as follows, in quaint, angular 
handwriting: 

“ Granite, March 9, 189-. 

'"'‘My dear Mrs, Holmes: 

“ You cannot tell how sorry I am for your trouble. I hope it will 
turn out to be less than Dave says it is. I want to say something 
to you that may give offence, though it’s kindly meant, I do assure 
you. For a good many years I’ve been laying aside a little money 
against a rainy day. Now it rains hard down your way, and I want 
you to accept the enclosed, as a loan, or any way you like, just to 
help a little in the storm. Folks always borrow umbrellas when 
they wouldn’t think of accepting anything else. For Hallie’s sake 
and your good boy’s, I hope you’ll take this and not say a word of 
thanks. Annie sends her love to you and Hallie ; I guess she’s 
written to Norman. 

“ One thing more. It’s spring now, and the city gets hot, they 
tell me, as early as May. Why won’t you and Hallie come right up 
here, as soon as you’ve got your affairs settled, and spend the sum- 
mer? We’ll try to make things comfortable for you, and Tompkins 
will drive and run errands. If we need any extra help I can get 
Annie’s sister. Prudence, to come over daytimes ; Mr. Duncan says 
he can spare her as well as not, and she’d be glad to come, for the 
change. It will do me good to have you round, too, so you needn’t 
worry about any trouble you’d make. I remain, 

“ Most respectfully yours. 


Letitia Rexdale.” 


BAD NEWS. 


305 


Enclosed was a check to the order of Mary Holmes, 
signed by Joshua M. Hobbs, and certified by the 
cashier of the Granite National Bank, for three hun- 
dred and seventeen dollars and sixty-two cents! 

20 


CHAPTER XXXIIL 


FRIENDS IN NEED. 

Mrs. Holmes read the warm-hearted New England 
woman’s letter with smiles and tears. Divining how a 
refusal of the money would hurt Miss Letitia, she 
wrote at once accepting the loan with many expres- 
sions of gratitude, and deposited the money in a 
savings bank in the name of the lender, of course 
making no mention to the latter of this disposition of 
the funds. 

Mr. Wheatley made his promised visit, sent for Mr. 
Harrows and the family lawyer at once, and went over 
all accounts thoroughly. 

“ It isn’t quite as bad as I feared, from your letters, 
Mary,” he said as he came from this investigation. 
“ A considerable little property has been saved from 
the wreck, and Harrows has acted honorably in turn- 
ing over to us everything he owned except a paid-up 
insurance policy, which will keep him afloat until he 
gets something to do. 1 shan’t prosecute or sue, as 
there’s nothing to be gained in putting the man in 
prison.” 

“ Oh, no! ” acquiesced his sister. “ He’s punished 


FRIENDS IN NEED. 


307 


enough, and will be all the rest of his life, by the 
knowledge of what he has done. He’s a kind-hearted 
man.” 

“H’m! I wish he’d had a little head to back up 
his heart!” said the banker grimly. ‘‘Well, Mary — 
and Hallie, for you must take part in our counsels, 
my dear — here is a rough statement of the ‘ salvage 
corps.’ You now own: 


“ House on Newbury Street $25,000 

15 shares Calumet and Hecla 7? 500 

U. S. 1920 Bonds, registered 10,000 

Deposited in Suffolk Savings Bank. 750 
Cash on hand, say 250 


Total $43,500 ” 


“ Why,” exclaimed Hallie, “ I had no idea we had so 
much money; had you, mother? ” 

“ No, indeed! Richard, where did you find it all? ” 
“ Well, the house, here, stood in your own name, 
and wasn’t touched. The savings bank deposit was 
the same. The Calumet and Hecla was bought at 
$300 a share with the $4,500 you placed in my hands, 
you remember, just after John’s death. The shares 
now sell for $500.” 

“And the ten thousand dollars?” asked Hallie, 
poring over the list. 

“ Harrows managed to scrape that together from 


3o8 


NAVY BLUE. 


odds and ends of his private property and forced sales. 
He turned in the cash and I put it right into govern- 
ment bonds, registered in your name. Now for the 
income. The house you can continue to live in, for 
a while, thus saving rent, though of course it costs you 
the interest on the whole value, or about a thousand 
dollars a year. It’s a large house for just two of you, 
and I earnestly advise that you find some quiet person 
who wants a comfortable home, to live with you.” 

''Take boarders! ” ejaculated poor Mrs. Holmes. 

Her brother shrugged his shoulders. " I wouldn’t 
put out a card for ' single gentlemen,’ like Mrs. 
Bardell,” he said, " but let it be known among a few 
friends whom you can trust, that there is an opening 
here for just the right person — preferably some nice 
old lady who is alone in the world and wants company 
and quiet. There are lots of ’em floating about in the 
city.” 

" Oh, yes, mother! ” said Hallie with a bright laugh. 
" And she’d be company for you, too, when I was off 
giving lessons. We can fix up that guest chamber on 
the third floor and make it just as pretty! And she’ll 
v/ear caps and lavender ribbons, and be lovely, I 
know.” 

Uncle Richard gave a very gentle glance, for such 
a rough business man, in the direction of his little 
niece; but he said nothing at the time. " Let’s go on 
with the list,” he remarked abruptly, giving his eye- 


FJilENDS IN NEED. 


309 

glasses a careless wipe as he removed and replaced 
them on his business-like nose. 

The C. & H. stock pays forty to fifty dollars a 
share — say forty, and that makes two hundred a year. 
The bonds net about three and a half per cent., or three 
hundred and fifty. Call everything else fifty, and that 
gives you a clean income of six hundred dollars a year, 
with house rent provided for.” 

Mrs. Holmes, remembering the fifteen thousand of 
past years, raised her hands and dropped them in mute 
despair. 

“ Now Tm going to make Hallie a little present,” 
continued her uncle, looking at her over his glasses. 

Bring me a pen, dear.” 

Hallie’s face began to look a vigorous protest, but 
she did as she was bidden, and Mr. Wheatley, drawing 
a blank check from his pocketbook, proceeded to fill 
it out to her order. 

“ There,” said he, tossing it over to the girl. That’s 
to help out the first year. After that we’ll hold 
another council of war. There’s no telling what may 
happen, meanwhile. No, I don’t lend. You can call 
it a birthday present — what do you mean. Miss? ” 

For Hallie had thrown her arms about his neck and 
buried her face on his shoulder. 

“ There, there,” he said, patting the brown head and 
wiping his glasses harder than ever, “ don’t cry, dear. 
It’s nothing. What I’d like would be to take you 


310 


NAVY BLUE, 


both back to Chicago to live with me. But I know 
Mary wouldn’t hear of that.” 

“ Four hundred dollars, uncle! ” said Hallie, looking 
at the check through her tears. 

“ That makes a thousand, to last through the year 
without drawing on your capital. It isn’t what you’re 
used to, but I think you can make it do without much 
hardship.” 

“ I guess we can! ” 

“ Now tell me what you mean by ^ giving lessons,’ 
little girl. Let me see — how old are you? ” 

“ Eighteen next month. I’m going to try to get 
music pupils, uncle.” 

Hallie sat up straight again, and all three entered 
into plans for the coming year, the rich banker giving 
the same concentrated attention that he would to direc- 
tors proposing the purchase of a railroad. 

Mrs. Holmes had added to her letter of thanks to 
Miss Letitia an acceptance of her invitation to spend 
the summer at Granite. It was therefore determined 
that all schemes for lodger and lessons should wait 
till fall, when the family would return to the city. 
Mr. Wheatley gave his unqualified support to their 
desire that Norman should complete his naval course 
with the requisite two years of sea service. If affairs 
then demanded his resignation, in order to gain a more 
lucrative post as civil engineer than Uncle Sam could 
offer, the great change could be made. 


FRIENDS IN NEED. 


31I 

The young cadet, chafing at his enforced absence 
from the family council, was at once notified of this 
decision, to his own undeniable relief and the great 
joy of Dave. 

In some way the news of the change of “ Lat. 
Holmes’ ” fortunes leaked out, and it is to be noted 
that not one of the class thought the less of him, now 
that he was known to be comparatively poor. He was 
as popular as ever, if not more so, and he could not 
help observing gratefully a new cordiality, a most 
delicately manifested sympathy, in his intercourse with 
the other cadets. 

He worked as he had never worked before, for he 
now had an incentive which had hitherto been lacking. 
His patriotic ardor to serve his country was by no 
means diminished, but in addition he felt he must take 
every advantage of the opportunities offered him to 
perfect his knowledge of engineering, to fit himself for 
the double duty of following the flag and supporting 
the dear ones at home. 

One great comfort in these dark days was afforded 
by the letters from Salem. Staunch and true was the 
little Anemone, like her mother when the news of 
Lieutenant Rexdale’s wound came to Granite. No 
words beyond affectionate friendship had ever passed 
between the two young people; but the fact that each 
was now working for a living formed a new bond be- 
tween them. If the word “ living ” had a deeper and 


312 


NAVY BLUE. 


tenderer meaning for each than either put into words, 
it drew them together the more closely. 

Dave’s letters to Hallie were full of sympathy, which 
was sometimes stiffly and clumsily expressed in his 
efforts to keep his pen in subjection. Hallie had soon 
ceased to torment herself and her correspondent by 
addressing him as Mr. Rexdale ” — a formality of 
which Dave wisely had taken no notice — and had 
fallen back easily into “ Dear Dave ” and “ Affection- 
ately yours, Hallie,” which had long ago become the 
familiar address and signature. Her notes were full 
of brave, cheery plans for self-support. She had a 
promise of two little golden-curled pupils in the fall, 
had cut down her dressmaker’s bills to an extent which 
honest Dave could hardly appreciate, and trium- 
phantly announced that she hadn’t been into Huyler’s 
for a month ! 

Norman, on his part,'*' made as few requisitions as 
possible on the storekeeper, and, in short, tried to 
adapt his daily life in every way to his change of 
circumstances. 

All this time he continued to drill his company in 

* The pay of cadets for the four years at the academy is $500 per 
annum ; for the two years at sea, $950 per annum. Those whose 
conduct permits it, receive a very small monthly allowance in money. 
What is not expended for books, etc., must accommodate until 
graduating, when they receive it in a lump sum. It is supposed to 
go for uniforms, etc. During the two years at sea they can draw 
pay monthly. 


FRIENDS IN NEED. 


313 


season and out, until it was an acknowledged fact in 
the academy that they were the crack division of the 
battalion. 

With the first of June came — not the visitors from 
the North, for the Annapolis trip had long ago been 
given up — but examinations, and the subsequent fes- 
tivities which cast a halo over the close of the academic 
year. Norman came out third man in his class, and 
first of the engineer division. Dave was number eight, 
which was a fine showing for the country-bred and 
educated lad. At prize drill the first company ful- 
filled its brilliant promise. The manual of arms was 
well-nigh perfect, the alignments exact, the marching 
steady, and the wheel, with the slight inward curve de- 
manded by the tactics, so fine as to call forth generous 
applause from the lookers-on. 

Although Hallie and Annie were sadly missed by 
the young officers, Grace Lee and Susie Franklin were 
there, and did all they could, with their gracious 
Southern manners, to fill the place of the absent ones. 
Girlie and Sandy would have been jealous, perhaps, of 
the affectionate greetings and kindly courtesies show- 
ered upon their chums, had they not in some way 
reached a perfectly satisfactory understanding with 
the two dark-eyed belles. Engaged? No, indeed! 
It was not for an academy cadet to enter into bonds, 
however pleasant, during his preliminary studies. 
But Sandy’s good-natured face wore such an angelic, 


314 


NAVY BLUE. 


continuous, and perfectly irresistible smile, and Tick- 
erson’s eyes shone so brightly whenever the rustle of 
Grace Lee’s white muslins was heard along the prosaic 
paved walks of the grounds, that their classmates were 
justified, no doubt, in drawing their own inferences 
and winking to each other behind the backs of the 
aforesaid young gentlemen. 

Proudly the first division marched in the centre of 
the battalion, with the colors floating over the heads 
of the first four. Cheerily sounded bugle and cornet 
under the dear old elms that looked gravely down, 
that night, as they ha'd so many a fair June evening, 
on the couples promenading to and fro beneath their 
aged boughs. 

The morning came, and with it the assignments 
for service. Dave and Norman, to their great delight, 
received orders to the same ship, the gallant Ports- 
mouth, which had gone into commission only six weeks 
before. The ship, a first-class armored cruiser, was at 
Brooklyn, from which she was to sail, within a few 
days, to join the North Atlantic Squadron for a cruise 
down the coast, and take part in the evolutions of the 
fleet. The country was at peace, though rumors of 
trouble in this or that foreign port were eagerly seized 
upon by the newspapers and exaggerated into “war 
clouds,” which — it must be admitted, to the disap- 
pointment of the younger men on board — usually 
evaporated before the first sunbeam of truth. 


FRIENDS IN NEED. 


315 


The cadets reported on board the Portsmouth forty- 
eight hours after their appointment, and the very next 
day the great white ship weighed anchor and sailed 
for Newport News. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


THE WHITE SQUADRON. 

The new cruiser was fitted with heavy ordnance, 
and all modern appliances of electricity and steam. 
She was nearly four hundred feet long, had two steel 
masts with fighting tops, each containing two rapid- 
fire guns. Her batteries consisted of two eight-inch 
rifles on each side, and a secondary battery of twelve 
five-inch quick-firing rifles, together with sixteen six- 
pounders (rapid-fire) and four Gatlings. There were 
five torpedo tubes, fourteen inches in diameter. She 
was a formidable ship, almost ranking with the battle- 
ships of one or two other nations. 

Off Hatteras the Portsmouth ran into a severe blow 
at about two bells in the forenoon. For some hours 
she labored heavily, but, on the whole, proved herself 
a vessel of noble sea-going qualities, until early in 
the afternoon, when her speed slackened visibly and 
the report ran about the decks that there was trouble 
in the engine-room. Norman was one of the first on 
the scene, and found that the boiler tubes were leaking. 

Over went the sea-anchor, and the great ship slowly 
swung round into the wind. The whole force of coal- 


THE WHITE SQUADRON, 


317 


heavers and firemen were set to work hauling the 
fires under the leaky boiler and starting others under 
the reserve set with which the Portsmouth was pro- 
vided. Every engineer on board, side by side with 
such line officers as could be spared from the deck, 
bent his energies to the task of meeting the emer- 
gency. For six long hours the ship breasted the 
huge waves, riding to her sea-anchor, and to Norman, 
toiling away in the black depths of her, it seemed 
a dozen times as if she were taking her final plunge. 
At last the steam indicator began to mount — the gauge 
showed ten — twenty — fifty pounds — and a little later 
the screw revolved once more, while the young engi- 
neer, almost utterly exhausted, scrubbed the soot and 
oil from his hands and talked the matter over with 
Rexdale in his cabin. 

In due time the Portsmouth reached her destination, 
repairs were made, and she was once more ready for 
storm or calm, peace or war. 

After four or five weeks of sea-drill the fleet turned 
northward again. Often, on some fair Sabbath morn- 
ing, as they paced the sunny and spotless deck, the 
thoughts of the cadets would go back to the old acad- 
emy days, especially to Sunday services, and the hymn 
which they knew was rising at that very moment, just 
before the benediction, in the chapel: 

“ Eternal Father ! strong to save, 

Whose arm hath bound the ocean wave.” 


318 


NAVY BLUE. 


The Honorable Secretary of the Navy, mindful of 
the patriotic sentiments of New England people, and 
willing to give them a special treat, sent orders for the 
squadron to visit Portsmouth, proceeding up the river 
as far as safety permitted, and allowing visitors to 
come on board. The very largest battleships pru- 
dently anchored outside Whale’s Back, but the Ports- 
mouth, which was especially dear to the people of the 
State for whose ancient seaport she was named, kept 
all on,” and rounded to her moorings in the lower 
harbor. 

“ What a talk she could have with the old Constitu- 
tion! ” said Dave as they slowly steamed into the river 
at flood-tide. “ The oldest inhabitant and the baby! ” 
Norman smiled; then grew sober again. “ The last 
time I was here was on the Bancroft's cruise,” he said. 
How different the world looks now! ” 

It’s the same world, and a good one, too. Norm. 
It all depends on — the people in it! ” 

He met Dave’s bright glance and nodded. There 
was no more time for conversation just then, for the 
ship had stopped her engines and orders began to fly, 
not loud, but thick and fast. 

A dull plunge announced that the cruiser had taken 
a firm grip on New Hampshire soil, thirty feet under 
water. She swung slowly round with the tide till her 
curving prow pointed oceanward. Then boats came 
scurrying down — it was about eleven in the forenoon 


THE WHITE SQUADRON. 


319 


— but orders were given that no one save navy yard 
officials should be allowed on board till two o’clock. 
Seamen were set to work scrubbing and furbishing, 
and at the appointed hour the ship was in holiday trim. 

Out came a throng of small boats loaded with eager 
sightseers. The young officers, dressed in their best, 
stood near the gangway to receive them and show 
them over the ship of whose beauty and strength they 
were so proud. 

Now came a tug, with half a hundred passengers, 
and presently the Appledore steamer, which made a 
harbor trip for the benefit of those who wished to see 
the whole fleet. 

As the tug returned to the wharf for a second load, 
a group of ladies awaited her with manifest impatience. 
One of the party was a rather small person with 
silvery hair and a manner of great refinement even 
while she looked eagerly toward the hurrying craft 
upon which she was apparently waiting to embark. 
By her side was a tall, spare woman of middle age, 
inelegantly and plainly dressed. She clutched a 
younger companion with each hand, and was clearly 
disturbed lest the wharf should go to sea or at least 
let the whole party down into the tide that swirled 
around the weed-draped supports beneath. The 
young girl on her right was of nearly her own height; 
her figure was slender and graceful as a sea-bird’s, 
and her delicate face, flushed with the excitement that 


320 


JVAFV ^LUE. 


Sparkled in her frank brown eyes, was a lovely thing 
to see as she glanced from the approaching tug to the 
distant “ fighting top ” of the Portsmouth. 

Beyond her and her stern-visaged guardian, whose 
brown-cotton-gloved hand held her wrist in a con- 
vulsive grasp, but of whom she seemed nowise in awe, 
stood on tiptoe, trying to peer over a pair of masculine 
shoulders that blocked her view, a little lady who 
might have posed as “ jocund day,” though in sooth 
the tar-grimed wharf was but a poor representative of 
the “ misty mountain-top.” Honest eyes of real 
“ navy blue ” like the sea, sunny hair waving back 
from a merry face, with just a suspicion of a freckle 
here and there, and a nice certainty of dimples — that 
was Hallie Holmes at eighteen, as true and sweet a 
little maid as could be found between Quoddy Head 
and the Golden Gate. The past few months had al- 
ready given a touch of seriousness to her face, that 
showed plainly as she turned a moment later to her 
mother and made room for her to stand more easily 
in the crowd that pressed forward in rather unruly 
fashion. 

“ Where’s Tompkins? ” she asked. “ Isn’t he going 
out with us? ” 

“ That I am, Miss,” said a hearty though cracked 
voice just behind her. “ Easy there, sir, don’t crowd 
the ladies! Now, Mrs. Holmes — steady — that’s right, 
ma’am — and here we are on the tug.” 


THE WHITE SQUADRON. 


321 


In his element, or rather on it, was- old Tompkins, 
the ex-man-of-war’s-man. He sniffed rapturously the 
salt breath of the sea, coming up from the mouth of the 
river; he criticised the unkempt condition of the tug, 
and called attention to the trim appearance of the 
beautiful white warship as they drew near the Ports- 
mouth. 

“ There he is! ” exclaimed Annie, waving her hand- 
kerchief tremulously to an erect figure in blue on the 
forward deck. 

“ No, that’s he, just helping that lady down the 
steps! ” exclaimed Hallie. 

Then the girls suddenly realized the mutual mis- 
take, and brown eyes met blue, and two merry laughs 
rang out from sheer happiness. 

Young Cadet Rexdale was no sooner relieved from 
assisting his charge, an exceedingly nervous old lady, 
into her boat, than he caught sight of the tug, whose 
passengers he had liot yet recognized. 

“Fend off! Fend off!” To scar the glossy side 
of that ship would have been a mortal offence in the 
eyes of every blue-jacket on board. 

“ Steady now! Give her a turn ahead! Well that! 
All ready, ladies, please! ” 

Dave and Norman stood side by side by the rail, 
within a few feet of the gangway. 

Foremost among those who scrambled up the steps 

was a weather-beaten old man. As he sprang on deck 
21 


322 


ATAFV BLUE. 


with wonderful agility, he glanced about him an in- 
stant and then drew himself up stiffly and touched his 
cap. 

“Tompkins!” exclaimed Dave, rushing forward, 
forgetful of dignity, and seizing the rough old hand, 
seamed and hardened by years of pulling and haul- 
ing. “ Are you alone? Who’s with you? ” 

But Norman already had his mother’s hands in 
both his own. He drew her aside, out of the crowd, 
and led her down to his cabin, followed by Hallie and 
Anemone, and, as a rear guard, by Miss Letitia and 
Tompkins, the last named removing his cap and tak- 
ing his post by the door that opened upon the gun- 
deck. 

When the young cadet had held his mother in his 
strong arms a moment and whispered the first greet- 
ings, he turned to the others. Hallie fairly flung her- 
self at him in her old impulsive way, and clung to her 
brother until her masses of bright hair gave symptoms 
of rebellion against their newly acquired bonds, when 
she reluctantly allowed him to turn to Miss Letitia, 
and, last of all, to Anemone, who had shyly drawn 
back from the family reunion. 

He could not take her in his arnis, but he had her 
hand, and forgot to let it go, while unspoken words 
flashed to and fro from one pair of young eyes to the 
other. 

Dave, meanwhile, had captured Hallie, whose 


THE WHITE SQUADRON. 


323 


laughter was a good deal like crying, but whose face 
was like morning as she tried to bring her sunny 
locks into proper subjection. 

“ Do pin that one back for me! she exclaimed at 
last, handing her brother’s friend a dainty little shell 
pin and turning her back on him. 

What did that sober, steady-going young man do, 
but, under pretence of patting down another unruly 
wave, slyly withdraw a second pin and make it do 
double duty, while he hid the first dainty little amber- 
tinted affair in his breast pocket! Nobody saw him 
but Tompkins, who would have willingly been blown 
from the muzzle of one of the Portsmouth' s eight-inch 
turret guns before he would have betrayed the idol of 
his heart. Lieutenant Rexdale’s son! Dave met his 
eye and turned red; but the old man-of-war’s-man’s 
face had no more expression than the figurehead of 
“ two-five ” at Annapolis. 

How the questions flew back and forth when the 
first joy of meeting grew calmer! 

“ How did you get here? Why didn’t you let us 
know? ” demanded Norman, dropping Annie’s hand, 
which he had been holding all this time. 

We wanted it to be a surprise,” said Hallie — “ a 
real surprise party. It worked beautifully, didn’t it? 
Only Annie would wave from the tug! ” 

“ Well, Dave didn’t see her, so it’s all right,” re- 
marked practical Miss Letitia. 


324 


NAFV BLUE, 


“ How did you come? ” 

“ All got up early, drove over to the station, and 
took the 8.30 train down to Portsmouth. I thought 
they never’d let us come out to the ship! 

“ You must let me show you round,” said Norman 
gallantly to Miss Letitia. “ Of course you want to 
see all you can of the ship.” 

“ Well,” said that lady, “ I s’pose I ought to. But, 
land! what if one of those cannon should go off! They 
don’t fire them daytimes, do they? ” 

Not often,” laughed Dave. “ If you’d like a salute 
of thirteen guns I might induce the captain ” 

“ Now, Dave Rexdale, don’t you go to making fun 
of your poor old aunt,” said Miss Letitia, her eyes 
shining with pride as she looked at her broad-shoul- 
dered nephew standing so erect before her. “ I don’t 
want no salute, nor Annie either, I guess. If they 
shoot off a cannon I shall go right overboard.” 

“ Then I won’t carry out my plan,” said Dave 
gravely. 

“ He doesn’t want to wet that elegant uniform, 
jumping in after you. Miss Letitia,” suggested Hallie 
mischievously. “ There, you and Annie can go with 
Dave and we’ll join you in a minute or two. I want 
to talk to Norman.” 

Neither of the young men looked perfectly satisfied 
with this arrangement, but the separation was not for 
long. Letters had passed constantly between the 


THE WHITE SQUADRON, 


325 


cadet and his mother and sister, so there was, after all, 
little news to tell. The Holmes soon found their way 
to the deck, which had been scrubbed till. Miss Letitia 
declared, she could eat off it. 

With due ceremony the captain and executive 
officer were presented to the ladies, and then followed 
a dozen more introductions among the officers and 
cadets. Each of the girls soon had a group of cour- 
tiers about her, so that Norman and Dave were fain to 
fall back, exchanging comical glances. Mrs. Holmes 
and Miss Rexdale were good company, however, and 
as the cadets made themselves as agreeable as possible, 
all went merrily. 

Miss Letitia, once among the deadly engines of 
warfare, developed a most unexpected thirst for in- 
formation, not to say for actual service. She climbed 
down into the turret while the girls were hesitating, 
and trained the gun on an imaginary enemy with, as 
one of the younger officers whispered to his neighbor, 
“ fire in her eye.” She descended to the engine and 
even the boiler room, and was observed patting the 
torpedoes as if they were so many calves in a stall. 
Dave declared afterward that only his earnest persua- 
sion prevented her from gaining the fighting-tops. 

Undeterred by sly grins on the part of the seamen 
scattered about the decks, she investigated everything 
she could reach with eye and hand. 

“ There,” she exclaimed at last, “ now Fve done my 


326 


NAVY BLUE, 


duty. Taint likely I shall ever be on board one of 
these big ships again, an’ I want to know just what 
kind of a place my boy has to live in all his life.” 

Tompkins, who had followed his mistress about the 
decks with mingled astonishment and respect, took 
off his cap and wiped his forehead when she finally 
entered the cabin and sank down on one of the seats. 

“ She was cut out for a commodore’s wife, sir! ” 
he whispered hoarsely to Dave, shaking his head 
gloomily. 

It was hard to part again so soon, but the northern 
train left at five, and the Holmes could not afford to 
stay overnight in the city. So the good-byes were 
spoken, the ladies went down over the side, and the 
tug bore them away once more, with handkerchiefs 
waving and blue caps swinging. 

Two days later the squadron itself vanished from 
the river, and on the first day of August the Ports- 
mouth was ordered to the Mediterranean station, to 
relieve a smaller warship then in the harbor of Bey- 
rout, and keep a close watch upon the Turks where- 
ever and whenever American interests were at stake. 


CHAPTER XXXV. 


SCATTERING THE CLOUDS. 

While Norman and Dave were performing routine 
duties on shipboard in the far East, taking part in the 
frequent drills ordered by the executive, standing 
their watch in due order, watching the marvellous 
sunsets over the snowy line of Lebanon, or wandering 
through the quaint, narrow streets of Beyrout, their 
bright swords clinking by their sides, Hallie was tak- 
ing up her work in earnest. In October she and her 
mother bade good-by to Miss Letitia, who would not 
take a cent for summer board — “ I ought to pay you 
for cornin’ and keepin’ me company,” she said — and 
returned to their Newbury Street home. 

Discreet inquiry among their acquaintances soon 
resulted in the appearance of an ideal boarder, as Mr. 
Wheatley had predicted : an old lady who had “ seen 
better days,” in a worldly sense, but whose happiness 
was so based on best days, still to come, that her lone- 
liness and reduced circumstances could not shadow 
the brightness of her face. Mrs. Earle had had a son 
in the navy — perhaps that was what turned the scale 
with Mrs. Holmes — and was never weary of talking 


328 


NAFV BLUE, 


of his Splendid service during the war, arid his care 
for his mother while he lived. He died in trying to 
save the life of a seaman who had fallen overboard in 
a gale off Cape Agulhas; but Mrs. Earle always said 
“ He is,^’ not “ He was.^’ 

The promised pupils from Commonwealth Avenue 
homes presented themselves shyly at the appointed 
day and hour: pretty, golden-haired little- things, at- 
tended to and from their homes by a French maid 

t 

with cap and flowing ribbons. One more opportunity 
was found to give elementary lessons on a violin to 
a girl of thirteen or thereabouts in her own home 
near by. 

When she was not giving lessons on piano or violin, 
Hallie worked hard at her own music, practising three 
or four hours a day. She let one servant go and man- 
aged, in spite of her other duties, to assume some of 
her lighter tasks, such as dusting, and washing the 
more delicate china. She had set her heart on mak- 
ing the thousand dollars last through the year without 
calling on her uncle for further help. 

She found time, too, to spend odd moments with 
her mother, and cheer her up with funny accounts of 
the people she met away from home, in her pupils’ 
houses, or at the concerts where she occasionally had 
a chance to accompany or sing. Mrs. Earle often 
dropped in at such a time, and a pretty trio they made, 
the two elder ladies with the bright-eyed young girl 


SCATTERING THE CLOUDS, 


329 

sitting between them and bringing sunshine into their 
faces with her merry comment and description. 

Then, too, came letters every week or two, bearing 
queer-looking postage-stamps with star-and-crescent 
and strange Turkish inscriptions. The days when they 
heard from Norman or Dave (who had agreed to write 
alternately) were white ones indeed. The thin sheets 
were read and re-read until mother and daughter al- 
most knew them by heart. 

In one of these letters Norman told of a run down 
to Alexandria, where the ship remained nearly a fort- 
night. On their return to Beyrout they were quar- 
antined for five days on account of a report of cholera 
in Cairo, no one except health officers boarding or 
leaving the ship. 

“ A yellow flag is flying at the fore peak ” [wrote the cadet], “and 
two officers of the ‘ Garde de Sante,’ representing the Turkish gov- 
ernment, are on board. They have big brass circlets on their 
sleeves, with the regular star and crescent, and we have no end of 
fun with them, as they are solemn as owls and can’t speak a word 
of English. You know, Harry Saunders is with us now. He was 
ordered to the New Hampshire to take Brockway’s place just before 
we sailed. To hear him talk Turkish to those fellows is simply 
side-splitting. Whatever is sent on board has to come in native 
boats, and the boatmen are careful not to touch our men in handing 
provisions abroad. They take the coins we give them in a long- 
handled thing like a corn-popper, and fumigate it as soon as 
they get ashore, we are told. The scenery about here is glorious. 
The shores are hilly, and the reddish slopes are dotted all over with 
little villages and single houses. Away up into the air, behind 


330 


JVAFV BLUE. 


them, rises Mt. Lebanon, covered with snow. Last night the whole 
long summit of the range was bright pink at sunset.” 

A little later came a thick letter from Dave, telling 
of a short trip over the new railroad which was being 
built across the mountains to Damascus.* They went 
as far as a small village called Araya, and saw a good 
deal of peasant life in the East, besides the glorious 
view of the Mediterranean and the surrounding 
country. 

All intervals of naval routine work were filled with 
practical studies and drills; for they were still cadets, 
belonging to the academy, with over a year more of 
service and study before their course would be com- 
pleted and, if they stood sufficiently high in the class, 
regular appointments received. 

From Salem and from St. Botolph came letters 
telling of cheerful, earnest work in the training-school 
and home. Annie had the promise of a position as 
teacher in a grammar school near Granite, from which 
she could come home Friday afternoons, or oftener 
if needed by her aunt. 

But while the women-folk were taking up their 
burdens so bravely, and the cadets were moving 
steadily onward toward commissioned service, another 
force, of which neither family guessed, was at work. 

Mr. Richard Wheatley was a man who moved 
slowly but surely. He had amassed what would be a 

* The road is now completed and trains running regularly. 


t 


SCATTERING THE CLOUDS, 


331 


large fortune in the East, and he had no idea of letting 
his sister and his favorite niece suffer for lack of 
money. Another man in his place might have handed 
them at once a check for fifty thousand dollars, and 
laughed at the idea of its being felt from his millions. 
That was not Mr. Wheatley’s way. He had looked at 
Hallie through those misty glasses more shrewdly 
than she knew, and not only guessed a secret hardly 
known to herself, but had read the girl’s character 
and recognized one little flaw. She had thus far lived 
on the surface of things; had taken life honestly and 
merrily, and. left undeveloped a strength and unselfish 
devotion that her uncle believed in with his whole 
heart. 

“ Let her take up her problem for one year,” the 
banker had said to himself. She will be a nobler 
and better woman for it all her life. Mary won’t 
suffer, for if there’s any real self-denying to be done, 
Hallie will get there first and save her mother, or I 
miss my guess.” 

One of the first things he did on reaching Chicago 
was to add a codicil to his will, giving Mrs. Holmes 
a life interest in two hundred thousand dollars, the 
whole to revert absolutely to Hallie. Then, after 
pausing a minute, he added a bequest of fifty thousand 
dollars to David Rexdale! 

Mr. Wheatley had not told his sister the whole of 
his interview with Harrows, the upshot of which had 


JVAFV BLUE. 


332 

been that he had taken in at a nominal sum the whole 
block of mining stock owned by the Holmes estate, 
comprising considerably more than half the capital of 
the company. With characteristic energy he had sent 
a trusty agent to the mine, which was thoroughly 
investigated. A shaft had been sunk, it seemed, and 
ore had been taken out in which gold was found in 
paying quantities, if properly crushed and milled. 
The trouble was that unexpected obstacles had oc- 
curred in the workings; the funds of the company had 
been exhausted by foolish dividends, declared in order 
to attract capital, and the stockholders had lost all 
confidence in the mine and its managers. Work was 
brought to a standstill, and, interest being already 
overdue, an angry body of bondholders, holding a 
quarter of a million of the company’s secured paper, 
threatened to foreclose within a month, thus com- 
pletely wiping out the stock. 

“ Pay all interest to date. Telegraph First National 
Bank for funds,” wired the banker on receiving this 
report. 

The bondholders received their interest with pleased 
surprise, and a small block of stock appeared in the 
market the next day at an advance over the last 
quotation. Mr. Wheatley’s agents took it instantly. 
Two or three stockholders unloaded thereupon, thank- 
ful to get out of what they considered a foolish invest- 
ment. The banker bought. 


SCATTERING THE CLOUDS. 


333 


Two weeks later a large gang of men, directed by 
an expert manager, appeared at the deserted works in 
Idaho. Hoisting machinery was rapidly renovated or 
replaced, electric drills were set up, a dozen carpenters 
knocked together a stamp mill like magic, and a 
month later ten stamps were at work. 

“ Wheatley’s gone into the ‘ Bald Eagle,’ ” said the 
Chicago Exchange. Up went the stock, climbing at 
first by eighths and then by halves. Early in Febru- 
ary of the following year he sold out every share at 
fifty per cent, advance over the original price paid by 
Harrows. 

“ What’s the matter with it? ” inquired speculators 
anxiously when the bears got hold of the news and 
pounded the stock. Isn’t the ‘ Bald Eagle ’ all right, 
Wheatley?’^ 

One of the best mines in the States,” said that 
gentleman tersely; “but I’m not in the mining 
business.” 

All unconscious of the turn affairs had taken in the 
West, Mrs. Holmes accepted her lot meekly, and tried 
to keep a cheerful face for brave little Hallie’s sake. 

So the months passed, until a full twelve had been 
numbered, and Mr. Wheatley once more descended 
from his cab and rang the bell at the Newbury Street 
front door. That evening, as they sat together before 
the fire, Mrs. Earle being for once excluded, Hallie 
modestly told of her efforts and her success in keep- 


334 


JVAFV BLUE. 


ing the household expenses within the limits of their 
income. Her uncle’s heart warmed toward her as she 
talked, until he could keep his secret no longer. 

“ Little girl,” said he with a preliminary cough 
which had troubled him more than once during her 
recital, you have done well, more than well, and 
so have you, Mary. I honor you both for it. Now,” 
he continued, drawing Hallie over to the arm of his 
chair and so holding her as he talked, I have a story 
for you to hear.” Whereupon he gave a succinct 
account of operations at the Bald Eagle.” 

The result of it all is,” said he, reaching his pocket 
with some difficulty, for he evidently didn’t like to lose 
his hold of Hallie, “ that I’ve brought back your prop- 
erty, rather larger than it was during our friend 
Harrows’ management — and. I’m inclined to think, 
more safely invested,” he added with a chuckle. 

There they were, city. State, and government bonds, 
and railroad stocks. 

How they laughed and cried and hugged the good 
man, who pooh-poohed at the part he had taken in 
restoring their fortunes. 

“ Merely business, merely business,” said he, wiping 
his glasses furiously. “ It hurts me to see a good 
mine or any other property wasted just for the lack 
of a little capital and careful management. Now, 
Hallie, go to your room and write a good long letter 
this minute to — Dave Rexdale ! ” 


CHAPTER XXXVL 


NAVY BLUE. 

Another year has passed, and it is June week at the 
Naval Academy. The sun is low in the west, and 
all the green sward of the grounds lies cool and rest- 
ful to eye and foot in the shadow of upper quarters. 
The walks are thronged with blue-coated cadets, 
civilians in sober black garb, and ladies in light sum- 
mer gowns. The academy band is playing Czibulka’s 
exquisite “ Nach dem Balle,” and the pauses of the 
music are filled with the soft hum of voices, with 
staccato chirps from the sparrows overhead, for whom 

taps ’’ has already sounded. 

Among the slowly moving figures under the elms 
are two tall, broad-shouldered young men, with faces 
bronzed by eastern suns and frames firmly knit and 
erect from two years of sea service. They are Assis- 
tant Engineer Norman Holmes and Ensign David 
Rexdale, U. S. N. 

Each of the young officers has upon his arm a lady 
whom there is no need to introduce. It is the same 
Hallie, with merry blue eyes, sunny hair, and gay, 
happy talk and laughter; the same sweet Anemone, 


336 


NAVY BLUE. 


clinging proudly to her escort, who has to pause oc- 
casionally to receive congratulations from old class- 
mates and academy officers upon his commission. 

“ Dear,” he says to his pretty companion as he 
turns from the commandant of cadets and walks on 
again, “ do you remember the first time I saw you at 
the old farm?” 

Anemone glances up -swiftly, and so replies. 

‘‘ I looked forward then to this very evening. I 
have looked forward to it ever since!” 

“ And I ! ” flashed the brown eyes ; but words did 
not come. 

Hark! What is the band playing? ” 

The immortal, ever young, ever thrilling strains of 
the '' March ” from Lohengrin, to which so many 
passionate hearts have beat in unison, floated out be- 
neath the green boughs. 

“ It is for us. Anemone! ” whispered Norman, hold- 
ing the little hand closer against his heart. 

“It is for you and me, Hallie! ” said Dave, just be- 
hind them, looking down into a pair of navy blue 
eyes. 

So they walked to and fro until the music ceased; 
and again in the evening, while the dancers were still 
whirling in waltz and quadrille in the new hall by the 
river, these four quietly slipped out and sauntered 
beneath the elms and along the sea-wall, talking of old 
times and new. 


NAVY BLUE. 


337 


Many changes had taken place during the past 
year. Restored to her former modes of life, and re- 
lieved from the anxieties that had pressed upon her, 
Mrs. Holmes had fairly grown young again. The 
house had lost one occupant, for before the snows of 
a second winter gentle Mrs. Earle had gone to join 
her son at the station to which he had been ordered 
so long before, and where her husband and nearly all 
the friends of her youth were waiting. 

Saddened by her death, Mrs. Holmes had written 
to Miss Letitia, begging her to come to St. Botolph 
for a visit. The New Hampshire woman, having al- 
ready tasted the sweets of travel on the trip to Ports- 
mouth, and being assured that her presence would be 
most welcome in the Newbury Street home, accepted 
the invitation. Tompkins was left in sole charge of 
the farm, a part of the stock being cared for by Mr. 
Duncan. The visit lasted until March, and great was 
Hallie’s delight in introducing Miss Rexdale to 
society, where she fairly held her own by her straight- 
forward simplicity and quaint conversation, which 
went right to the point, but never wounded. Hallie 
had ceased to give music lessons, but kept up her own 
studies and often delighted her guests with dainty 
recitals upon piano or violin. 

Norman and Dave returned to Annapolis in May, 
and passed the final examination successfully. They 
graduated second and fifth in their class, and on the 
22 


338 


NAVY BLUE. 


following day received their warrants, Rexdale to 
serve on the battleship New Hampshire, to be launched 
on July 1st, and Norman to assist in an important 
government work then in progress at the Charlestown 
Navy Yard. 

Mrs. Holmes, Miss Letitia, and the girls had come 
to Annapolis to take part in the closing festivities of 
the academy. There, in the old familiar grounds, with 
the memories of six brave and loyal years thronging 
about them, the two young men had asked the ques- 
tion which needed no asking, and had heard the 
answers that had already been given a thousandfold. 

It was decided that Norman and Anemone should 
be married in the early fall; that they should invite 
Miss Letitia to spend the winter with the family in 
St. Botolph, inaugurating her visit with attendance 
at the wedding. 

Dave was sorely loath to wait, but his orders left 
no choice. At the end of the present cruise of the 
New Hampshire, or before that, if she should be 
ordered to northern waters, he would take Hallie 
for his very own. Meanwhile he must be at the post 
of duty. The navy was under-manned, and it was 
rumored in high circles at Washington that a crisis 
was approaching in foreign relations. The North 
Atlantic Squadron was quietly ordered to rendezvous 
at Key West for the ostensible purpose of sea evolu- 
tions and drill; whether a more serious need for their 


NAVY BLUE. 


339 

presence in that quarter was felt by the department 
nobody knew. 

It was hard for Hallie to let him go, with the heavy 
cloud hanging over the southern horizon; but she 
realized the part women must always play in the de- 
fence of their country. 

“ Those also serve who only stand and wait ! ” 

she whispered to Dave, hiding her sonsy face on his 
shoulder when she heard his orders. “ You must go, 
and I must ‘ stand and wait.’ If there is war, it will 
be ^ kneel and wait! ’ ” 

“ There won’t be war — there can’t be! ” said Dave, 
smoothing the sunny hair. “ They dare not attack 
us. But if they should ” 

“You will do your duty, dear!” And the words 
rang none the less true that they ended in a sob. 

As for Norman, he was full of the great enterprise 
on foot at the navy yard. A thousand men were to be 
employed, and engineering skill of the highest quality 
was in demand. The result of a war might depend on 
the speedy construction and perfection of the work, 
which would occupy at least a full year. During this 
period he could live at home, though he and Annie 
realized that at any time orders might come from 
Washington detaching him for sea service. 

It was probable that sooner or later the Granite 
farm would pass into the hands of the thrifty Ezekiel 


340 


ATAVY BLUE. 


Duncan, and that Miss Letitia would form a part, by 
no means unimportant, of the new Holmes household 
in St. Botolph. It was agreed that Annie, meanwhile, 
should teach in a school which, through the influence 
and help of some of Mrs. Holmes’ friends, she had 
obtained near the city, instead of in Coos County. 

“ Don’t forget the date,” says Sandy, approaching 
Norman and Annie, as they stroll beneath the An- 
napolis elms on ball-night; “the twelfth, at ii a.m., 
sharp! ” 

“ I’m so sorry, Mr. Rexdale, that you can’t come! ” 
adds Susie Franklin. “ We had counted on you, and 
Sandy is sure to tell the puflin story to everybody 
there! ” 

“ Annie will go, and bring Senhora’s shawl for a 
token,” laughed Dave. “ I hope you’ve invited En- 
sign Tickerson and his lady? ” 

“ Of co’se he has ! ” says a rich southern voice, and 
“ Girlie,” with his fiancee. Miss Grace Lee, join the 
group. She is taller than he is, but she is radiantly 
handsome, and as he walks with her he runs into 
things, from turning so often to look into her face. 
Tickerson himself, with his ensign’s uniform and side 
arms, and a newly acquired moustache, looks manly 
enough to protect his southern beauty through life; 
and none of his classmates have forgotten his heroic 
rescue of the cadet in mid-ocean. 


NAVY SLUE. 


341 


Now the conversation is interrupted by cheering 
from the dance-hall. A jolly Virginia reel seems to 
be in progress, and the band has struck up for the 
march, ‘‘ Hail Columbia! 

“ Hurrah I Hurrah 1 ’’ come the cheers through the 
open windows in the boyish voices of the cadets. 

“ Hurrah I echo the newly appointed officers out 
in the grounds, catching the enthusiasm; and Hallie 
suddenly strikes in with the words, while the others 
join lustily in the chorus: 

“ Hail, ye heroes, heaven-born band. 

Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause. 

And when the storm of war was gone 
Enjoyed the peace your valor won. 

Firm, united, let us be. 

Rallying round our liberty! 

As a band of brothers joined. 

Peace and safety we shall find I ” 


THE END. 


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